Fairyland

12/25/2025

### **Review: *Fairyland (2025)*** **Score: 7/10** *Fairyland* (2025) is a visually opulent yet narratively uneven fantasy-adventure that feels caught between the whimsical charm of a children's fable and the darker, more sophisticated lore of modern fantasy epics. It aims for timeless enchantment and occasionally achieves it, but struggles to maintain a consistent tone or a truly compelling plot across its runtime. **What Works Well:** * **Stunning Visual Imagination:** The film’s greatest strength is its breathtaking visual design. The titular Fairyland is rendered with a painterly beauty, blending practical creature effects with CGI to create a world that feels tactile and magical. From bioluminescent forests to crumbling, vine-covered castles, it is a feast for the eyes t

6/20/2026

"Alysia" (the engaging Nessa Dougherty) has just lost her mother in a car accident and so is growing up with her dad "Steve" (Scoot McNairy). He wants to move to San Francisco to make a new start, despite the protestations of grandmother (Geena Davis), an so they end up in a flat-share with a lively group of folks. Almost immediately, her dad hooks up with "Eddie" (Cody Fern) and her story becomes one of a girl (now Emilia Jones) living with a father who is clearly gay. As a child, she's pretty unphased by his lifestyle but as she grows older, she wants to know more about her mother and just what the dynamic of their relationship was. She moves away to study and that's when AIDS begins to rear it's ugly head at home and their tiny family has to start to deal with consequences that graduall