Ali & Ava

Clio Barnard returns to Bradford with Ali & Ava, an exquisitely calibrated depiction of finding love right on your doorstep. Adeel Akhtar plays Ali, an aspiring DJ who's keeping his marriage separation secret from his close-knit family. Claire Rushbrook’s Ava, meanwhile, is a classroom assistant preoccupied with nurturing everyone else, tending to her family of four kids – Barnard regulars Shaun Thomas (The Selfish Giant) and Natalie Gavin (The Arbor) are among the brood – and five grandkids. In social realist style, with the city often seen through car windows and under moonlight, observations are gently made about the nature of community. Ali diffuses a confrontation with local kids throwing stones, turning it into a dance party, but there remain lurking tensions, including hostility from Ava’s son.

Music underscores Ali & Ava’s developing relationship. In a key scene, they listen to their favourite tracks separately, singing asynchronously yet joyfully, jitterbug Ali jumping on the sofa. As their connection deepens, they increasingly listen to each other’s favourite songs, integrating them into their daily lives. Adding each other to their playlists is a narrative clue, but it also says something of how these notational fragments reflect their avid listeners and resonate in the headphones of someone new.

As the fragility of Ali and Ava's romance unfolds under the waxing moon – a symbol for new beginnings – the film successfully reveals the complexity of someone arriving unexpectedly into your world and deciding whether to face life, and all its struggles, together.