Unicorns (2023 British film)

Unicorns is a drama film directed by James Krishna Floyd and Sally El Hosaini, released on July 5, 2024.^[1][2] The film stars Ben Hardy as Luke, a single father and mechanic who is forced to question his sexual identity when he unexpectedly falls in love with Aysha (Jason Patel), a drag queen.^[3]

Unicorns
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Krishna Floyd Sally El Hosaini
Written by	James Krishna Floyd
Produced by	Philip Herd Trudie Styler Celine Rattray Bill Pohlad Kim Roth Christa Workman
Starring	Ben Hardy Jason Patel Sagar Radia Ali Afzal Nisha Nayar Val The Brown Queen
Cinematography	David Raedeker
Edited by	Iain Kitching
Music by	Stuart Earl
Production companies	Maven Screen Media River Road Entertainment Chromatic Aberration
Distributed by	Signature Entertainment (United Kingdom) Netflix (United Kingdom) Cohen Media Group (United States)
Release dates	September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08) (TIFF) July 5, 2024 (2024-07-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time	119 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States Sweden
Language	English

A coproduction of companies from the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden, the film was written by Floyd, and marks his directorial debut.

The film premiered in the Special Presentations program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.^[4] It was nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards at the 2024 BIFAs, winning one.^[5][6] At the 2024 Dinard Film Festival it won both the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award.^[7]

Attitude magazine called it a 'trailblazing film' and in November 2024, it was bought by Netflix for the UK. ^[8] For the US it was bought by Cohen Media Group for all North American rights, releasing in cinemas in 2025.^[9]

Cast

• Ben Hardy as Luke Tilson
• Jason Patel as Aysha / Ashiq
• Hannah Onslow
• Nisha Nayar
• Michael Karim
• Sagar Radia
• Ravin J Ganatra
• Ali Afzal
• Val The Brown Queen
• Jaimie Tank
• Anthony Pius
• Saba Shiraz
• Miss Jalebi Bebe
• Adeel Ahmed
• Grant Davis
• Madelyn Smedley
• Kate Lindsey
• Dan Linney
• Karen Sampford
• Angela Phinnimore
• Karen Bartholomew
• Jenny O'Leary
• Taylor Sullivan
• Aqeel Torres

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.^[10]

Joey Moser of Awards Daily gave the film a positive review, writing: "Unicorns is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, because we have never thought of honoring a drag love story in such a balanced way." and called it "such an important piece of new queer cinema."^[11]