Fairyland is an adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir about growing up with her gay father during the 70s & 80s. After her mother died, she and her dad moved to San Francisco where he could finally live as an out gay man. Sofia Coppola optioned the book the year that it was released but the movie wasn’t filmed until 2022. It premiered at Sundance in January 2023 and received high praise at several other film festivals, but it took more than two years for the movie to land a distribution deal. It’s finally in movie theaters (it started with a limited release last week and is coming to more theaters today). See where it’s playing here!
The movie was directed by Andrew Durham. Like Alysia, he grew up with his newly out dad in San Francisco in the 1970s. Although their dads were openly dating men, Alysia and Andrew both said they did not talk to their classmates that their dads were gay. Both Andrew and Alysia returned to San Francisco in the early 90s to take care of their sick fathers. Both of their fathers died of complications from AIDS in 1992.
Fairyland stars Emilia Jones (CODA, Task), Scoot McNairy (Halt and Catch Fire, Narcos: Mexico), Cody Fern (Foundation, American Horror Story), Maria Bakalova (Guardians of the Galaxy), Nessa Dougherty, Adam Lambert (Wicked, Cabaret), and Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise).