Reel Entropy

When groundbreaking Urdu-language trans drama Joyland finally strolled into American arthouses last May, it came highly decorated. The film premiered at Cannes in May 2022, where it won the Queer Palm and Jury Prize and earned invitations to several other film festivals, including special screenings at Toronto and Sundance, and became the first ever Pakistani film to be shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar, though it did not secure a nomination.

Lahore, Pakistan- Haider (Ali Junejo), the second son of a proud lower-middle class family who has been unemployed for years supported by his wife, Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), and access to the family home, secures a job as a backup dancer to Biba (Alina Khan), a local out male-to-female trans performer, and the two eventually begin an affair. The tension in the film stems from everyone’s unhappiness and paranoia. Haider’s arch-conservative father, Rana Amanullah (Salmaan Peerzada) has four granddaughters through Haider’s older brother, but demands a grandson. Haider must hide the nature of his work from Amanullah, and at one point Amanullah lets a elderly neighbor woman crash on his couch for a night and it turns into a whole sit-down between the family and her son, if that gives an idea of how conservative this neighborhood is. Haider’s and Mumtaz’ marriage was already dissatisfactory, and Haider’s affair with Biba isn’t all sunshine and daisies either – it’s more of a fling that happens more than once, it never even looks like it might stabilize into a real relationship.