Joyland () is a 2022 Pakistani drama film written, directed and co-edited by Saim Sadiq in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, and Salmaan Peerzada.
Set in inner-city Lahore, Joyland centers around the low-income Rana family, headed by an elder patriarch (Peerzada) who yearns for the birth of a grandson. He forces his daughter-in-law Mumtaz (Farooq) to quit her job after Haider (Junejo), his youngest son and her husband, finds work at an erotic dance theater. However, complications arise when Haider becomes infatuated with Biba (Khan), a transgender dancer.
Joyland had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2022, becoming the first Pakistani film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section, where it competed for the Caméra d'Or. The film received a standing ovation after its screening and won the festival's Jury Prize, as well as the Queer Palm prize for best LGBTQ-themed film.
It was initially banned for theatrical release in Pakistan and was approved for release after minor cuts. It premiered domestically on 18 November 2022 and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Joyland was selected as the Pakistani entry for Best International Feature Film at 95th Academy Awards. On 21 December 2022, it became the first Pakistani film to be shortlisted in the category.
Plot
In inner-city Lahore, Amanullah is the elder patriarch of the middle-class Rana family. His younger son, Haider, has spent years unemployed, while Haider's wife, Mumtaz, works as an aesthetician at a salon. Haider's friend Qaiser helps Haider secure a job as a backup dancer at an erotic dance theater, where he is to perform for Biba, a transgender dancer. Haider had previously seen a bloodied Biba at a hospital, when Haider's sister-in-law Nucchi was giving birth to a fourth granddaughter. Upon learning that Haider has found work, Amanullah—who wishes for a grandson—orders Mumtaz to quit her job, to her dismay.
Haider joins his fellow backup dancers for rehearsals with Biba, but demonstrates little experience with dancing. After the rehearsal, Haider accompanies Biba to the theater, where he witnesses an argument between Biba and the theater manager over the affordability of a standee of Biba. Biba and Haider place an order for the standee at a shop. At the Rana household, Mumtaz and Nucchi install an air conditioner. That night, while Biba attends an event at which she is groped by a man, Haider goes to pick up the standee. Unable to store it at the theater, Haider brings the standee home, and he and Mumtaz place it on the roof.
The next morning, Fayyaz, a widow and family friend, notices the standee on the roof and alerts Amanullah. Fayyaz and Amanullah chide Haider and the standee as shameful. At another rehearsal, Haider begins to show improvement in his dancing. That night, Biba and Haider go to Biba's home, where she explains her bloodied appearance at the hospital—the blood belonged to another transgender woman, Tina, who was shot and killed by a man in front of Biba. Haider and Biba talk about the ocean, and Haider says that he has never been outside Lahore. They nearly kiss, but Haider goes home. In bed with Mumtaz, Haider asks her about the ocean, and Mumtaz suggest they visit it someday. Haider says he cannot sleep; he returns to Biba, and the two passionately kiss.
On another night, Mumtaz and Nucchi go to an amusement park called Joyland, while Haider and the other backup dancers prepare to perform alongside Biba. When the electricity at the theater unexpectedly shuts off, Haider convinces Biba and the other dancers to go through with their performance until the lights come back on; their routine proves a success with the audience. Later that night, Nucchi's husband Saleem catches Mumtaz masturbating to another man, who is himself masturbating in an alley visible from her bathroom window. The next morning, Fayyaz's son scolds the Rana family, as Fayyaz spent the previous night in Amanullah's company, a fact her son considers disgraceful.
Mumtaz and Nucchi visit a doctor and learn that Mumtaz is pregnant with a boy. Mumtaz tells Nucchi that she feels like "running away", but dismisses her own statement as a joke. At the theater, Qaiser and the other backup dancers ask Haider probing questions about Biba's genitals, resulting in Biba angrily rebuking them. Later, Biba and Haider prepare to have sex, but when Haider tries to position himself as a receptive partner, Biba furiously kicks him out and tells him not to return to her nor the theater. Haider returns home and cries when Mumtaz tells him that they are expecting a son.