Starring: Elliot Page, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Peter Outerbridge
Director: Dominic Savage
Country: Canada
UK Distributor: Vertigo Releasing
There is absolutely no doubt that Elliot Page’s well-publicised transition was a landmark moment for trans men in the media. And while Page (Inception, Juno) was a lauded actor before, roles since have been limited to independent cinema and television ever since. Now, Page performs as Sam, a trans man returning to visit his family for the first time in many years, a part both written for him and by him for the screen.
Invited to the birthday party of his father (Outerbridge), Sam travels back to his hometown, only to encounter the former love of his life (Baack) en route on the train. Their spark is clearly still alight, so – bolstered by a newfound confidence – he feels much more able to stand up for himself as members of his family begin to spout transphobic rhetoric at the party.
This isn’t a film about blatant discrimination, but ruminates more on the cumulative effect of micro-aggressions around the differences in identities past and present. It’s not the parents who create these problems, but instead the siblings and their partners, reflective of the new generation of anti-woke right-wing Americans. And with such a large family to dissect, it becomes difficult to determine exactly who is who.
The romance that runs parallel to the family storyline serves only as a distraction. There isn’t much chemistry between the actors, so we end up with an over-developed plotline that should really only have served as the catalyst in the movie’s prologue. Subsequently, the tension never really builds with the family itself because we keep cutting away to this woolly romance removed from the homestead. Add to that the film’s hyper-realistic mumblecore style and you have a plodding film with very long scenes in which very little happens whatsoever.
An introspective grey film that can’t get its pace up beyond a laboured stroll, Page might give a perfectly authentic performance, but his self-written script gives him very little to actually do.
UK Release: Out now to watch on VOD, released by Vertigo Releasing
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