Mi vacío y yo

Mi vacío y yo (2022) is a Spanish movie shown in the U. S. with the title My Emptiness (or My Emptiness and I.) The film was co-written and directed by Adrián Silvestre.

Raphaëlle Pérez stars as Raphaëlle, who is diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and makes the leap into transgender transition.

As a woman, Raphaëlle struggles with dating and making new friends. (It's interesting that protagonist Raphaëlle Pérez is also a co-author.)

We enjoyed this movie--the acting was good and the plot was compelling. Mi vacío y yo has a fairly strong IMDb rating of 7.2. I thought that it was better than that, and rated it 8.

We saw this movie as part of Rochester's wonderful ImageOut LGBTQ film festival.

Mi vacío y yo

A young trans woman in Barcelona deals with her transition, dating and daily life.

The film has a straight-forward narrative style to the extent that it borders on documentary, though every scene burns with an authenticity that is entirely engaging. It is emotionally intense and yet naturalistic, confronting complex existential issues, yet never melodramatic. Nothing is played for pathos and yet I was entirely emotionally invested.

Written in collaboration with the protagonist, played by Raphaëlle Pérez, the film depicts the process of her being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, taking hormones, support group discussions with other trans people and the general emotion and confusion of transitioning. The joys and pains of dating and sex with men via an app are dealt with candidly. Finding authenticity is difficult when men are likely to have one of various reactions to her transness: shock, curiosity, fetishisation, uncertainty. She moves through these struggles neither as a victim nor a warrior, simply as a person confronting what is necessary in order to create the life she wants for herself.