When the opening credits are riveting and effectively convey an emotional family history up to the present moment, I knew that I Believe in Unicorns would be a potent independent film, and not quirky and annoying. The opening credits reveal a woman’s transformation and uses time lapse photography to capture the natural course of cupcakes with candles. The opening hints at the subsequent hyper stylized, sepia-toned nostalgia of the cinematography that is more metaphorical of how we reflect on past experiences than how we actually live. The film is about a 16 year-old girl who embarks on her first romantic and sexual adventure with ambivalent and increasingly disturbing consequences.
I Believe in Unicorns reminded me of two other films, but was better than them: It Felt Like Love and Me and You and Everyone We Know. It Felt Like Love felt unremittingly bleak and dangerous, but restricted itself to the potential for danger and thankfully flinched before giving in to its destructive, sexual threshold. Me and You and Everyone We Know felt so contrived and annoying that any authentic emotion evaporated from all the excessive staging. In contrast, Leah Meyerhoff masterfully understands how to shift the tone of I Believe in Unicorns, her debut feature film, to make it credible while capturing the inner, emotional life of a teenage girl without seeming twee or foolish.
I Believe in Unicorns feels more organic even though it is reminiscent of other feature films and explores common themes of first love. I appreciated that the couple are not only experiencing something for the first time, but to a certain degree, they are role-playing what they have seen in other relationships, which includes the emotionally provoking wife or the abusive partner. They have triggers and emotional issues without the maturity to not say, “Hey, let’s see what happens if I do that.” While to a certain degree, it is predictable, the way that Meyerhoff explores the relationship and structures the narrative between dark fairy tale internal monologue and reality creates the tension.
The main character casts herself as the maiden capable of taming the unicorn. Her boyfriend is the unicorn (phallic symbol), but also reveals that he is the dragon who destroys the unicorn or her image of him. This dual nature shows that he is not a complete villain, but simultaneously villain and victim, however understanding his behavior does not excuse it. The main character may do emotionally violent things, but there is an understanding that it also does not make any reaction acceptable. Understanding is not vindication. They are children with adult consequences.
I Believe in Unicorns is a potent coming of age movie that speaks with a soft voice, but lands with an emotional gut punch. Side note: who took care of her mom during her road trip? Bit of advice: you can’t have a significant other and not expect to share your food. If you don’t want to share your food, then you can’t have love.