r0der1ck

This is a well-made and sincere film that avoids pat answers or schmaltzy sentiment in favor of asking interesting questions everyone faces in life - what makes happiness and what is its price - without relying on melodrama or exploitation. The story is very simple and the presentation very low-key with subtle, convincing performances and great chemistry between the leads.

One of the things I realized after seeing it is that the story could very easily be about heterosexuals. It in no way looks to the gay community to provide some unique positive or negative trait. Lots of films make the festival rounds relying on stereotypes to carry them along but this is simply about people and love and I think anyone can connect with the themes it presents. Highly recommended to anyone interested in a touching story regardless of orientation.

This is a magnificent documentary, the sort of film that reminds one why documentaries are made. The maker clearly thinks that she knows the general shape of the film at the beginning - returning to her hometown after transitioning to being a woman, about to see her old high school friends for the first time with her new body and true identity - but instead finds that it's much more about her brother and his ongoing identity crises - who is he, who is he becoming - than about her own questions of place and home. Kim seems to answer for herself the age-old question of whether one can or cannot go home again but finds that the question is being raised over and over again for the people around her who face their own issues of loved ones lost and gained.

This film avoids any sense of predictability or forced sentiment, continually surprising the viewer and rewarding attention to detail, both by the audience and the makers. Absolutely magnificent. It will surprise from beginning to end.

Don't think of this as a zombie movie; think of this as a gay romantic comedy in which one of the characters happens to be a zombie. The audience at the showing I saw squirmed a bit, I suspect in part because they were expecting more horror and fewer make-over montages and, in equal measure, because this film proudly wears its stereotypes on its sleeve. That said, this movie is fun and very funny. If you've ever been young and freshly out of the closet then you are almost certain to recognize everyone and everything in this movie and I couldn't help but be charmed to the core.

The acting is quite good, the comedy works well and the romance is disturbingly tender and believable despite one of the characters being in an advanced stage of decomposition. Truly an unexpected delight.