Layla

2024

Comedy / Drama / Romance

5
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 88% · 34 reviews
IMDb Rating 6.2/10 10 577 577

london, england drag queen coming of age lgbt non-binary palestinian

Director

Amrou Alkadhi Photo
Amrou Alkadhi

Top cast

Bilal Hasna Photo
Bilal Hasna as Layla
Terique Jarrett Photo
Terique Jarrett as Felix
Buket Komur Photo
Buket Komur as Sara
Emma McDonald Photo
Emma McDonald as Areej
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
920.47 MB
1280*532
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 2
1.67 GB
1920*798
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by rosie-ojeda-146-708200 10 / 10

Beautiful Film about the Complexities of Identity

I had the pleasure to see the film at the Summer Sundance Film Festival. The director introduced the film and briefly talked about needing to "perform" in many aspects of our lives. I found this theme prominent in the film with not only the main character, Layla, but many other characters as well. I think the film portrayed the complexities of identity, specifically the in between-ness of labeled identities. At the same time the film was beautiful in the colors it used, wardrobes of characters, and the music was splendid. Overall the film is throught provoking and also celebrates drag in a unique way.
Reviewed by BadRoosevelt 7 / 10

Endearing and uplifting

A London drag queen who lives something of a double life, chances to meet the man he falls in love with and has to reconcile his own acknowledgement of his identity with his strict Muslim family. Bilal Hasna brings conviction and emotional intelligence to this raw, heartfelt drama, but also a deeply humane passion (wonderfully brought to life in a dancing scene).This might not be for all tastes, but as avant-garde cinema that gives us a slice of life from walks of life that don't get much of a podium in the film industry, this delivers quite well. Strongly recommended.
Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

Layla

When "Layla" (Bilal Hasna) dons the full drag regalia to perform at a corporate launch for some ready meal company and they pay her in vouchers, she isn't best pleased and so makes a speech annoying just about everyone in the room except the guy from the marketing company. He's "Max" (Louis Greatorex) and it's quite clear that there's a little chemistry between the two after a brief conversation on a stairwell. It's not long before they've hooked up and what's clear is that both are attracted to the other, but that both have their identification issues that might prove difficult for the other to reconcile. The question for each of them is the extent to which they can love each other and still be who they are, want or need to be. Now perhaps it's the old romantic in me, but I hated the ending. That may be, though, because it is truthful and didn't take any easy routes out of what is quite an interesting story of human nurture, nature and personality. The former man is from Surrey, but has Arab roots whilst "Max" is as white as chalk and way more conforming to the more standard British norms of dress and family. Both are openly gay so that's not the issue, it's much more about breaking free from those linear and societal boundaries and being true to themselves. If I'm honest, I didn't much care for the drag friends. They seemed determined that "Max" was always going to be an interloper, and most of us know that embryonic relationships - platonic or sexual - can often thrive or fail depending on the reaction existing friends provide. There's quite a bit of selfishness around here and that annoyed me a little. Both performances are honest, playful and at times quite visceral and though comparisons are bound to be made with "Femme" and/or "Unicorns" from last year, this has quite an unique take on issues that are specific to those two characters here, but needn't be looked at in isolation.
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