In this evocative and poignant adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir, produced by Sofia Coppola, a daughter is along for the ride of her young life when her widowed father heads west to 1970s San Francisco to claim his authentic self in the exhilarating early days of gay liberation. Scoot McNairy (Narcos: Mexico) is a revelation as amiable, well-meaning Steve Abbott, a queer poet trying to balance fatherhood and his writing with his enthusiastic exploration of his sexuality, as seen through the eyes of his child. Eight-year-old Nessa Dougherty is terrific in Fairyland’s 1970s scenes, a sweet little girl rolling with life’s changes and watching the Pride parade go by, while Emilia Jones reveals more complicated emotions as the older Alysia, a young woman struggling to come to terms with her bohemian upbringing and sometimes irresponsible father.

With a cast that also includes Oscar winner Geena Davis, Adam Lambert, Cody Fern, Ben Attal, and Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova, first-time feature director Andrew Durham captures the heady sense of freedom and possibility of an era along with the shattering reality of AIDS as it sweeps in, destroying lives and upending community.