Layla

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Layla

2024

1h 40m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

LGBTQ+

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86%

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28 Reviews

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Layla is a struggling British-Palestinian drag performer whose confident façade hides their desperate desire for love. When their performance at a belittling corporate Pride event turns into a transgressive takedown, they are surprised to win the affection of Max, a charming, successful white gay man who is bewitched by Layla's power on stage. It sparks a thrilling romance from across the aisles of the LGBTQ+ community, as both Layla and Max negotiate how desire and identity can sometimes collide.

Marina Ashioti

Little White Lies

Amrou Al-Kadhi’s debut trades in any unique qualities that a queer film can exhibit in terms of form and content, with the tried and tested formula of the palatable, cheesy odd couple romance.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 11, 2024

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

It’s a bland, flip-flopping central romance, topped off with some sub-Oprah sentiment about self-empowerment.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 27, 2024

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Layla has found their tribe -- and it’s here that first-time director Amrou Al-Kadhi, also a drag artist, excels, capturing the sparkling, sensual spectacle of the queer club circuit.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 25, 2024

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Maria Lattila

Film Stories

It’s charming and raises some interesting themes about queer identity and families, both chosen and biological, but the script could have done with another go to provide some more thematic clarity and smooth it out a little.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 19, 2024

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William Stottor

Loud and Clear Reviews

Layla is an engrossing, lively feature debut by Amrou Al Kadhi, charting the story of a drag queen who searches for their identity amidst a whirlwind romance.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 12, 2024

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Dulcie Pearce

The Sun (UK)

Sadly, what had the potential to be a fish-out-of-water comedy... instead turns into a lecture on modern sexual politics.

Dec 3, 2024

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Amrou Al-Kadhi

Director

Bilal Hasna

Actor

Louis Greatorex

Actor

Safiyya Ingar

Actor

Darkwah

Actor

Terique Jarrett

Actor

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Love, Simon

92%

87%

Love, Simon

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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

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Bonus Track

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Dear Ex

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85%

Dear Ex

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Synopsis

Layla is a struggling British-Palestinian drag performer whose confident façade hides their desperate desire for love. When their performance at a belittling corporate Pride event turns into a transgressive takedown, they are surprised to win the affection of Max, a charming, successful white gay man who is bewitched by Layla's power on stage. It sparks a thrilling romance from across the aisles of the LGBTQ+ community, as both Layla and Max negotiate how desire and identity can sometimes collide.

Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
Producer: Savannah James-Bayly
Screenwriter: Amrou Al-Kadhi, Amrou Al-Kadhi
Production Co: AUM Group, Film4, British Film Institute
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 40m