Competition Feature
Unicorn Boy
Directed by: Matt Kiel
USA, 2023, 91m
East Coast Premiere
Matt Kiel’s pastel-drenched coming-of-age animated feature, Unicorn Boy, explores the complexity of first heartbreak and gender identity through this magical portrait of their former self as it follows Matty, a struggling artist in Los Angeles, as they overcome the loss of love. In a coffee shop bathroom, Matty gets sucked into an alternate unicorn dimension and must now work with a unicorn friend, a prince who barfs rainbows, to conquer a dark force and bring peace to their equine kingdom and emotional stability to their bleak Silver Lake lives. This gorgeous, oddball, queer fantasy features a brilliant cast of voice actors that includes Patton Oswalt (Tully, FFF 2018), Harold Perrineau, and Michelle Trachtenberg. Recalling everything from Yellow Submarine to My Little Pony to the works of Hayao Miyazaki, Kiel’s trippy and whimsical odyssey explores how their past life has led to the person they have become. Bizarre, bonkers, and beautiful, Unicorn Boy is feast for the eyes that was meant for the big screen.