Girl (2019)

Girl (2019)

A humane illustration of the trans teenage experience

7.6

Movie

Belgium, N/A
Dutch, English, Flemish
Drama
2019
CHAD FAUST, LUKAS DHONT
Alexia Depicker, Alice de Broqueville, Angelo Tijssens
105 min

What it's about

A promising teenage dancer enrolls at a prestigious ballet school while grappling with her gender dysphoria.

The take

Girl won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was nominated to 9 Magritte Awards. It was also Belgium’s entry to the Oscar for best foreign-language film. When a dance school accepts her, Lara has the opportunity to realize her dream and become a professional ballerina. The dancing takes a toll on her body, but her biggest obstacle is that she was born into the body of a boy. Girl illustrates the trans teenage experience with sensitivity, slowly and humanly making Lara’s anguish become the viewer’s. Based on a true story.

Comments

This movie should be regarded as a must-see for cisgender individuals who would like to have a window into the world trans folks have to struggle for even the most basic, most personal rights and freedoms. I usually am dismayed when a trans individual, especially an adult is not portrayed accurately in a movie/television series, which often is the case but even with a few flaws, this film does not feel unrealistic and does not sugarcoat the essence. It is not really heavy in dialogues and gives the viewer enough opportunity to observe and just ingest the material and ask questions, start wondering. Worth the time.

Hard to watch at times but respectful to the issues addressed by this film.

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Mommy (2014)

Aiming straight for the heart while punching you in the guts, Mommy is a crazy chamber piece about a widowed mother and her next-door neighbor bringing up a savage teenager

9.6

The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020)

A Syrian man becomes artwork in this fascinating drama based on a true story

8.0

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Martin Scorsese grapples with harrowing history and the limits of storytelling in this monumental masterpiece

8.2

My Name Is Loh Kiwan (2024)

Love enables survival in this moving drama about the refugee experience

7.0

Quo Vadis Aida? (2020)

A difficult and alarmingly timely portrayal of the Srebrenica massacre

8.2

Atlantics (2019)

A poetic drama from Senegal

7.0

By the Grace of God (2018)

A damning account of a cover-up by the Catholic church in France

7.8

No Dogs or Italians Allowed (2023)

Alain Ughetto remembers his family history in this charming, yet poignant animated drama

9.2

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

Raw and absorbing drama with two unbelievably gripping lead performances

9.0

Things to Come (2016)

A beautiful, bittersweet portrait of resilience

8.5

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.