I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS

Feb 6

dreamy dark romance coming-of-age

every teen girl should see to learn & every woman should see to heal.

Virgin Suicides meets Science if Sleep meets True Romance. If you love these movies you will absolutely fall in love with I Believe in Unicorns by Leah Meyerhoff. Shot with a combination of 16mm & 8mm film with lense flares & light leaks & color shifting beauty it’s perfectly imperfect. Handmade stop motion animation throughout layered with dream sequences overlapping floating b roll of moments that capture the smallest & simplest beauties of life.

As dreamy & fantastical as this film is it’s also an incredibly honest tale of dark romance & the dangers young girls face when their ideas of self & love come from fairytales; an escape from reality & dream of being “rescued by a prince” escaping to magical lands— “anywhere but here”.

“Once upon a time there was a princess named Davina …

…and she lived in a tower on top of a dark castle under the control of the evil witch.” — Davina
“Then one day the handsome prince named Sterling galloped into town on a blue unicorn & slayed the dragon & rescued the princess & carried her away.” — Sterling

It beautifully portrays the pure imaginative & dreamy thoughts that only young, bored & innocent teenage girls can possess while also showing the dangers that powerful beauty has to warp a teen girl’s reality creating a loss of self by choosing to see the heroic handsome prince; rather than the dragon he truly is; because she as the princess she “needs a prince to escape.” — but in doing so she loses her self.

People are far more complicated than stories, fairytales, unicorns & dragons leed us to believe. True love is not something you have to wait for, work for or earn nor does it need to come from a boy or romantic relationship. Love & appreciate our friends & family —those who love us with no pressure or strings attached just simply for who we are — no heroic prince needed.

my favorite moments-

“It’s like we’re magnets stuck to the earth”

Their first date is whimsically shot & filled with poetic dreamy deep discussion—on a hike by the ocean. They lay on a giant rock looking up at the sky.

CHESS AT A DINER <3

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Davina & Sterling stop at a Gas Station & buys a bunch of little dinosaurs & a bottle of red nail polish as well as a temp unicorn tattoo in this scene the song You’re so Cool plays from True Romance - total homage love.

At dusk they stumble upon a traveling night circus.

Davina’s style -

glitter, lace, silk, pastel blues, lavender, pinks stickers, layered bracelets, backpacks w/ patches, feathers, cat ear headband

Her lavender makeup & her lavender tee — seen paired w/ black high-waisted shorts & suspenders— is something I already do but made me want to paint my nails lavender this week & buy a pair of lavender tights for even more lavender this spring/summer.

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When I saw this white/silver sequin top in the rollerskating rink scene I immediately started looking on Thredup for one just like it — just my luck the ones I pinned after watching the movie are sold already—maybe something to do with all the silver sequin glitz at the Grammy’s this year.

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Dress-Up!

I typically like to “dress up” for the movies I watch. Where I go through my closet & wear something that *reminds me* of what I think the movie will be like. Day to day I like to do this too —something that *alludes* to the movie/character makes picking out an outfit for the day so much more fun!

This day I woke up wanted to wear my long star dress, Target years past, & with a sweatshirt - because cold & since Davina is played by Natalia Dyer I thought my Stranger Things one would do (it was my friend’s old shirt - most of my friend’s & I offer each other our clothes 1st before we donate them - shop your friend’s closets so much fun & better for the planet & lifecycle of that item.