Girl

I see a lot of gender prejudice here from folks who demand that others not be so prejudiced about gender. It doesn't matter whether young Victor Poster is cisgendered, transgendered, or androgynous, the performance in this role is nuanced, vulnerable, and entirely believable. I am shocked that people would criticize either Victor's sexuality or gender identification in their evaluation of the film. Victor is not a poster-child... victor is acting. And doing it beautifully.

Others seem concerned that the film oversimplifies a complex issue. But when you are a 15 year old girl in the wrong body, it is kind of simple. It's one girl's story and experience and pain and fear, not a testament to the entire world of being transgendered. You simply cannot try to cover all issues in one person's story. This is not a story about the general "truth" of being transgendered, it is the story, as titled, of a girl. One girl. One girl's experience.

I felt extremely moved by the end. I hope others appreciate this as a film... a story... and not try to judge it as some sort of manifesto or expect something more of it than it should be.

If we want to normalize all human experience, we need to stop demanding more from projects like this than we would of any other story of personal trauma or tragedy. Every person is unique, every person's life is their own and should stand on its own merits rather than being obligated to represent an entire diverse group.

First things first: I really enjoyed the movie. Do I think its great? No. But I actually thought the ongoing ballet metaphor (and all the discipline and equilibrium that is involved in classical training) was powerful in showing the development of an "unbalanced" psyche that is trying desperately to cling on to whatever "normal" it can construct. Although certainly repetitive I thought it was inspired,, rather than boring. I also appreciated the non-preachy nature of most of the film, thus I rated it how I rated it. Having now read some of the reviews, I do understand possible objections to the depiction of the characters transition, and how it is shown. But, as in other instances with many other films for many different reasons, I don't know enough to judge. I will be more aware in the future, so for me both film and reviews were very useful.

Emotionally devastating yet reassuringly empathetic, director Lukas Dhont's GIRL tells the story of transgender ballerina Lara as she seeks to complete her transition while struggling to achieve her dreams. Make no mistake, this is a tough film to watch (as exemplified by the cringing noises and gasps from the elderly women sitting in the row behind me), but it's also a rewarding one. Victor Polster delivers some of the best work of the year in his portrayal of the protagonist, and while some will rightly be bothered by the fact that Polster is a cisgender male actor who cannot ever known firsthand the difficulties that someone like Lara would have gone through her entire life, he nonetheless delivers an arresting, sensitive performance that adroitly examines these devastating struggles. And while the film does focus a fair amount on the struggles that Lara faces through her transition, it also highlights her resilience and courage, which define her more than anything else. I also have to point out that it's been a landmark year for movie dads, with Arieh Worthalter fitting right in with Michael Stuhlbarg's dad from CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, Josh Hamilton's dad from EIGHTH GRADE, and Tracy Letts' dad from LADY BIRD. Worthalter shines as a devoting father who desires nothing more than his daughter's happiness.

If there's one thing I disliked about GIRL, however, it's the slow pacing, which I really started to feel during the last fifteen minutes of the film or so. It's only 105 minutes long but each and every minute is certainly felt. I also wasn't the biggest fan of Dhont cutting the music off during certain scenes (let the scene play out, Dhont!). Despite my complaints and the fact that I might not have loved GIRL, I still certainly believe it's worth watching.

Straigh, gay or trans, everybody should watch this flick so that we get this transphobia out of the current topics and see people as human beings.

Beautifully narrated and visually impressive, shocking even at some point.

It is difficult to review this film without referring to the performance and casting of Victor Polster as the Girl the title refers to. Both appear to be quite polarising. There seem to be many reviewers who feel his portrayal was brave, emotive and mature as an adolescent ballet dancer going through a transitionary period in her life in more ways than one: moving to a new school and meeting new people, moving to a different apartment, and, of course, the crux of the film, taking the next step in confirming her gender identity by taking hormones with a view to having gender reassignment surgery in the future. There also appear to be many people, mostly people who identify as either transgender themselves or part of the wider LGBT+ community, who think that the performance and casting is offensive and lacks the nuance that only a real-life transgender actor could bring to the role. Personally, I cannot believe I watched the same film as anyone who thinks that his performance was anything less than exceptional.

Ballet as an art-form creates beauty out of pain, patience and practice, and Lara's journey to become a better dancer runs in parallel with her journey to physically become the woman she believes she is. The routine physical exhaustion and bleeding toes she experiences whilst dancing provide a visceral contrast with the emotional challenges of day-to-day living she has to face, such as showering or going to the toilet, whilst living in a body that just doesn't fit. Victor Polster manages to convey these experiences and emotions, showing an intense determination and underlying vulnerability that never spills over into melodrama. The question of whether or not he should have been cast in the role in the first place is moot as it is evident that he was up to the task. Morally I do not see any reason why a non-trans actor cannot play a trans role if they have the ability to do so, in the same way that an actor does not need to have kids to play the role of a father or mother. I believe that he got the role on merit, in the same way that Daniela Vega got the lead role in A Fantastic Woman, because they were the best person for the job.

Where the film falls slightly flat, however, is that there are no other fully fleshed out characters apart from Lara, and although the film focuses around Lara's pain and experiences in the here and now, there isn't always a clear motivation for her actions. It isn't even clear why she is so keen on becoming a dancer in the first place. I'd like to have seen more of the father and younger brother and how their lives were affected by Lara's situation.

Ultimately it is a painful portrait of a young woman fighting to be who she wants to be that could have benefited from widening the scope and delving into the lives of other characters more in order to give more weight to the situations Lara found herself in. I also feel that the ending, although earned and wincingly effective from an emotional standpoint, didn't provide much closure and left the film feeling unresolved. Having said that, I have a suspicion that this was intentional as stories such as these do not have a cut-off point where the transformation is complete and the only resolution is the acceptance that there is none and that the fight must go on.

Definitely would recommend it.