Brie Larson is a Unicorn in Unicorn Store

Unicorn Store, directed by and starring Brie Larson, was the first film I got to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year, and one that I was super excited to see...I mean, it's Brie Larson and something to do with unicorns!  How could I not be excited?? In reading the logline and based on the photo used on TIFF's site, I thought, this could be really cute or really indie arthouse weird.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with indie arthouse weird, I've enjoyed a number of such films.  I am an emotional film watcher, so I enjoy almost anything I emotionally connect with, but I honestly had no idea what to expect, because you just never know with some of these films at film festivals. I guess what I was really hoping for was just not the kind of depressing ending or an ending that leaves you with a sort of vacant and unsatisfied feeling that many of these more arthouse films tend to leave you with.  Let's just say at the end of the movie, I was pretty happy and satisfied, and ready to let my inner unicorn out if I hadn't already.

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Unicorn Store, directed by and starring Brie Larson, was the first film I got to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year, and one that I was super excited to see...I mean, it's Brie Larson and something to do with unicorns!  How could I not be excited?? In reading the logline and based on the photo used on TIFF's site, I thought, this could be really cute or really indie arthouse weird.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with indie arthouse weird, I've enjoyed a number of such films.  I am an emotional film watcher, so I enjoy almost anything I emotionally connect with, but I honestly had no idea what to expect, because you just never know with some of these films at film festivals. I guess what I was really hoping for was just not the kind of depressing ending or an ending that leaves you with a sort of vacant and unsatisfied feeling that many of these more arthouse films tend to leave you with.  Let's just say at the end of the movie, I was pretty happy and satisfied, and ready to let my inner unicorn out if I hadn't already.
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What I did not expect, but then wasn't surprised by, because it's Brie Larson and her directorial debut, was the beautiful statements made in the storytelling. This movie was made for every colorful dreamer like myself--it's like a letter from one oddball pen pal to another. I can't tell you how many times growing up my parents would tell me, "It's great to dream, but don't forget to keep your feet on the ground." My parents were like Gladys (Joan Cusack) and Gene (Bradley Whitford) in that they were always supportive of me and my aspirations, but maybe not as kookie as Gladys and Gene. They never tried to set me up with someone "more practical," but they sure tried to set me up with dreams that were more practical. Knowing that I love writing, performing, and entertaining, they'd say, "Okay, that's great! How about go to school for broadcast journalism and go to law school so you can learn how to do your own contracts and protect yourself?" I didn't study broadcast journalism, but I did eventually decide to go to law school--not for the reasons suggested, but I went. So, I guess that comforted them...at least until I decided I didn't want to practice.

I think good parents are always going to be good parents, and they're going to do whatever they can to guide and ensure their child gets out of life whatever s/he wants in the most safe and secure way so as to ensure that their child can survive on his/her own, in whatever way that looks like to each family or parent.

So, this movie made my heart smile, because it was a reminder that the inner child in each of us, and the dreamer inside of each of us is someone to be cherished and embraced. Or really, it's that we should cherish and embrace our inner unicorn. I know that sometimes the things I believe in, dream, want so badly to make happen may sound very utopian to others, as if these things, ideas, and dreams are born out of a rainbow. There's an idea I came up with for a project I've been working on, trying best how to figure out how to bring it to life, and when I tell people about it I find myself feeling a little embarrassed as I describe to them my vision, because it probably sounds like I'm trying to save the world. So what if I am though? The way I see it, every good deed one person does, is the world in a better place by that much. Watching Unicorn Store reminded me to embrace that colorful, sparkly dreamer that I am. I mean, I'm not saying everyone should walk around with rose-tinted glasses on, because that's dangerous, I just think how dull and how uninspiring life would be without color and vision. It's certainly important to keep your feet on the ground while you dream, but if and when you can fly...then go on and soar.

Something else I really heard and related to in this movie was the fact that sometimes we have to be unafraid to let go. We hold on to different things for different reasons. In this case, Kit (Brie Larson), holds onto her dream of having a unicorn, which symbolized her desire to be unconditionally loved and her colorful, eccentric character. It's not that she wasn't loved by her parents--it was just that they were communicating on different wavelengths. It's difficult, when you're trying so hard to be heard, amd so hard to stay true to who you are, yet you feel like no one hears a thing. You feel alone. So Kit, a twenty-something year old held on to this childish belief and dream, which is bizarre, sure, but I think more symbolic than bizarre here. I think she did so out of a sense of hope and fear of being totally alone and unheard, and also to hold on to herself, because she is a unicorn. She's an oddball--something a lot of us can relate to, I think. So whether we hold onto something out of fear or out of hope, or both, we need to remember that there comes a time when we have to let go, and this is the dilemma Kit must face up to in the end. Sometimes letting go means, freeing yourself of something holding you back, and sometimes letting go just means you're ready to fly on your own. For Kit it was both.

The line between fantasy and reality can get a little confusing in this movie, because Brie doesn't take the story so far into the whimsical, that the notion of her believing she'll get a unicorn makes her look loony. So, at some point in the movie, I was thinking, "Please don't tell me she's going to end up in the cuckoo nest." However, I think that that serves to paint the picture of the struggles some of us encounter in trying to be true to who we are, while also trying to be practical, efficient, and functioning adults in the real world. By not diving so far into the fantasy element, there is also a sincerity to the voice of the movie that I really appreciate. Now that I think of it, it's a bit Wizard of Oz, but without being fully immersed into the fantasy, because she comes in and out of it throughout the story. That particular balance of fantasy and reality makes it more tangible, at least to me it did. You have to watch this movie with your emotions. You have to watch this movie with that child or teenager in you who had awesome dreams.

This movie was made for girls like me--people like me--it's for everyone who dreams in color and sparkles galore.

Can't wait for all of you to see this movie! Brie certainly showed us she is just as effective a storyteller behind the camera as she is in front of the camera.

BIG LOVE & HUGS

Love,

​Justine