Verified source report
Fairyland review – moving memoir of queer parenting and new kinds of family in 70s San Francisco
Andrew Durham’s tender adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s book finds warmth, humour and heartbreak in an unconventional family unit shaped by love and loss For anyone familiar with the Bay Area in the 1970s and 80s, this offers a glorious wallow in nostalgia, from the grainy archive footage of San Francisco Gay Freedom parades to the novelty of sushi at a book launch and the new wave hairstyles. But this film is not just about the set dressing and the costumes; at the story’s core is what was then a new kind of family. A gay father raises his young daughter in San Francisco after his wife, her mother, is killed in a car accident; they live first in a squalid commune in the Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood and later move to slightly more bougie digs. The dad, Steve (Scoot McNairy), is a man with his foot only half out of the closet when the tragedy happens. He loves his daughter Alysia (Nessa Doug
What happened
According to The Guardian’s source item, Fairyland review – moving memoir of queer parenting and new kinds of family in 70s San Francisco, Andrew Durham’s tender adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s book finds warmth, humour and heartbreak in an unconventional family unit shaped by love and loss For anyone familiar with the Bay Area in the 1970s and 80s, this offers a glorious wallow in nostalgia, from the grainy archive footage of San Francisco Gay Freedom parades to the novelty of sushi at a book launch and the new wave hairstyles. But this film is not just about the set dressing and the costumes; at the story’s core is what was then a new kind of family. A gay father raises his young daughter in San Francisco after his wife, her mother, is killed in a car accident; they live first in a squalid commune in the Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood and later move to slightly more bougie digs. The dad, Steve (Scoot McNairy), is a man with his foot only half out of the closet when the tragedy happens. He loves his daughter Alysia (Nessa Doug
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Bay Area file for local readers tracking public services, civic decisions, transportation, housing, safety, and community life across the Bay Area. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-05-26T08:00:50+00:00.
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Source
Primary source: Fairyland review – moving memoir of queer parenting and new kinds of family in 70s San Francisco via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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Source links
- Fairyland review – moving memoir of queer parenting and new kinds of family in 70s San FranciscoThe Guardian - 2026-05-26T08:00:50+00:00
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