A failed “Slice of Life”
Background
The perfect way to describe this film is a movie that forgets it’s a movie. Starring Natalia Dyer and Peter Vack, this 2014 indie is wasted potential at its finest. I expected it to be a beautiful story about two young lovers who wish to be older than they are. But, I Believe in Unicorns turned out to be pedophilic, thematic, catastrophe.
“Thematic” vs. “Dumb”
My biggest critique against this film is that it completely forgets it is a film. In the sense that it creates a false reality of itself. It thinks it is “thematic” and “strange”. That way, every weird choice it makes can be justified. Film as a general art form is completely subjective. It can be created and interpreted in any way. However, like any art form, it has basic components. For example, a good film should have a driving plot, engaging characters, and natural storytelling. But, I Believe In Unicorns seems to have none of these components. The plot is boring and slow, the characters are stupid and un-rootable, and there seems to be no focused story. To compensate for its faults, it tries to add creative elements of poetry, sound, and even some stop-motion. But when these moments aren’t presently occurring, the audience will remember how slow and boring it is.
Pedophilia Hidden in Plain Sight
I Believe in Unicorns is filled to the brim with moments similar to those in the work of Dan Schnieder. Some may be able to excuse the clear pedophilia as part of the theme or storytelling but I wholeheartedly disagree. Though having a surplus of sexual moments is considered necessary for the theme of two children in an abusive relationship who behave older than they are, there are plenty of completely unneeded moments. For example, there are so many up-the-skirt shots I lost count. These did not add anything to the storytelling or theme. There is also an excessive amount of kinky acts the couple engage in. Such as licking a semi-permanent tattoo to get it to stick, lap-dancing for each other, and many more. These moments still do not add anything to the story. And they especially do not make sense considering that the two are exploring their young sexuality, and are not experienced with one another or sex.
Slice of Life
It is no secret that the “Slice of Life” genre may be the hardest to do well. This genre aims to create a film that seems as if it is experienced naturally, in real-time, leaving behind the classic narrative structure. Almost like a Truman Show. The difficulty of this is that along with making it real, the film still must follow the previously mentioned, “basic components of film”. Many great movies do this exceedingly well: Mid90s, The Florida Project, Boyhood, etc. I Believe in Unicorns is one film that did not succeed at correctly earning the “Slice of Life” title. As previously stated, this movie completely forgets that despite being an unconventional film, it still must tell a story. Without these components, there is no film at all, and rather than watching a realistic, investing story, it feels like watching nothing happen for 2 hours.
Conclusion
All in all, I believe this film is a completely forgettable mess. With nothing but meaningless filler, pedophilic directing, and a loss of story; there is barely any real movie to watch. I found myself going into this movie, but exceptionally disappointed when it was over. I know that it has a large amount of supporters, and that is great. Again, film is subjective, and all that I have stated is nothing but opinions.
