They (2018)
J is in their early teens and lives in the countryside. J has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, goes by the selected pronoun “they”, and takes hormone blockers to suspend puberty. While J’s parents are away, their older sister and her Iranian boyfriend are assigned the duties of house-sitting and looking after J.
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Best movie of this year hands down!
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
A boring movie about someone who just can't decide if they want to spend their life as their true gender, or pretend to be the other. It seems it is more about trying to enforce the notion that thought somehow changes biological gender and definitely targets the an audience that already supports that narrative. If you happen to believe that gender is physical state rather than a meta-spiritual state-of-mind, you will likely find the film frustrating to watch.Production-wise, the film is not terrible, though a bit slow-paced for my taste. The acting, directing, casting, etc. is all on-par for what you would expect from an indie film. The film just seems fundamentally flawed in its content, which sinks it.
This film is an intimate portrait of a person - J or the eponymous "they" - who simply cannot decide if they want to become a man or a woman. They wish they could be a child forever. This indecision is a theme that director Anahita Ghazvinizadeh masterfully weaves into the entire story. Influenced by Robert Bresson's concept of ellipsis and fragmentation, the film is subtle but visually beautiful, just like the main character J, excellently played by Rhys Fehrenbacher. One learns about gender nonconformity and comes to the realization that gender perhaps really doesn't matter in the end as long as you have people who support you.