r/Ijustwatched • u/Low_Programmer_kpk • 11d ago

IJW: Joyland(2022), what a stunning film!!!

I just finished watching Joyland(2022) and I’m honestly blown away. Funny thing is, I didn’t even come across it through friends or film circles. I first saw a reel on Instagram a sad edit of two contrasting scenes between Haider and Mumtaz and the comments were so full of love for the movie that I had to check it out. I went in knowing almost nothing about it, not even the controversies it faced in Pakistan, and I think that made the experience even more powerful.

What struck me most was how subtle yet devastatingly effective it is in handling complex themes repression, gender roles, sexuality, and the suffocating expectations of family. For me, it’s as much Mumtaz’s story as it is Haider’s. The film gives trans representation such dignity through Biba’s character, not as a token but as a real, layered human being. It’s rare to see that in South Asian cinema, and it hit me hard.

The title Joyland itself felt tragically ironic Mumtaz’s one moment of pure joy is on the Ferris wheel, and after that, her world closes in on her until she sees no escape. It’s like the film is saying joy is fleeting in these households where tradition crushes individuality. The baby subplot also captures this so well: Haider’s brother and his wife trying over and over for a son after three daughters a painfully real symbol of how desi culture pressures women’s bodies and lives for the sake of a male heir.

I really felt for both Mumtaz and Haider, her being trapped in a family and a marriage where her spirit withers, him being this soft, sensitive man crushed under the weight of cultural expectations and unable to defend himself or the people he cares about. That ending, with Haider finally making it to Karachi and walking into the sea, gutted me. It felt like he was begging God to wash away his sins and give him forgiveness for all the things he couldn’t do, couldn’t say.

This was actually my first experience with Pakistani cinema, and honestly, what an introduction. Joyland is beautiful, painful, and most of all human.

Curious if anyone else here has seen it what did you think? And if you haven’t, I can’t recommend it enough.

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u/5o7bot 11d ago

Joyland (2022) NR

As a patriarchal family yearns for the birth of a son to continue their family line, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for its transgender starlet.

Romance | Drama
Director: Saim Sadiq
Actors: Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Salmaan Peerzada
Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 74% with 139 votes
Runtime: 127 min
TMDB

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