The theme of repression in a regimented society percolates throughout this melancholy and lovely Pakistani film.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 23, 2023

Ali Junejo’s performance ranks as one of the finest you’ll see in any year.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 17, 2023

What’s in a name? For Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq, there’s so much meaning wrapped up in the title of his extraordinary debut feature, “Joyland.”

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 17, 2023

There's always emotional authenticity... Everyone gets their moment to shine.

| May 17, 2023

When the final tile is inevitably, predictably, calmly laid, it doesn't make the tragedy any less haunting.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 4, 2023

Its richly textured, effortlessly compassionate portrait of LGBTQ identity and desire.

| Apr 21, 2023

A picture of considerable integrity, passion, and bravery.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 7, 2023

Sadiq, a sensitive director who occasionally muddles a scene when he gets bashful, focuses on the patriarchy’s impact on men. Here, every man we meet is terrified to become the target of gossip — a paranoia that sometimes seems to be only in their heads.

| Original Score: B | Apr 7, 2023

Joyland’s dignity is in its commitment to realism.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 1, 2023

Sadiq is not lecturing us or trading in types; he is taking us by sensory surprise, and the tale that he tells is funny, forward, and sometimes woundingly sad.

| Mar 31, 2023

It’s skilfully constructed drama, flawlessly played and with a gut-punch finale.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 27, 2023

The picture transcends the tragic romance narrative, to achieve something rather more complex and satisfying.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 26, 2023

A film of huge heart and empathy. Mirroring the hapless hero’s journey, it’s an unexpected romance.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 25, 2023

Joyland’s hallmark is the breadth and nuance it affords every one of its characters. All, we realise, are in some kind of transition.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 24, 2023

The 31-year-old Sadiq (who also wrote and edited the film) knows how to weigh every shot, every cut.

| Feb 23, 2023

A storming debut from writer-director Saim Sadiq: emotional, tender, and quietly radical. With any luck, it will herald a new era for Pakistani cinema.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 23, 2023

A haunting, intricate rumination on desire, truth, and drowning.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 22, 2023

Joyland is such a delicate, intelligent and emotionally rich film. What a debut from Sadiq.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 22, 2023

As a director, Saim Sadiq knows when to pause, barge ahead, shy away, romanticize and be totally outrageous.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 10, 2023

Joyland’s quiet power comes not through melodrama, which Sadiq scrupulously avoids, but its deep affection for its characters. It’s a modern tale of changing gender roles and the patriarchal crisis that could just as easily have taken place in New York.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 24, 2023