sherlockscoat

Even though I'm German, I rarely watch German movies. We're semi- successful with comedy, slice of life, or crime, but any other genre is usually painfully bad. This movie confirms this theory.

The movie features a young soldier - unoriginally named Sum1 - who is stationed in a tower in the middle of nowhere to guard the new built frontier between civilization and no man's land. There are evil things roaming around and the survivors have found refuge in bunkers underground. No one has ever seen those monsters, or at least lived to tell the tale. Neither protagonist nor viewer is sure they even exist, however, the viewer is thrown into this dystopian world without any context, so all of this means nothing to them.

Sum1 can't compete with any Hollywood productions and it's very obvious. It's not the outdated CGI or plump dialogue, it's not even the acting. (In fact Iwan Rheon's acting might even be a little too good for this script so he just comes of as overtly intense.) It's the fact that this plot could have escaped the pen of any first year Film student, it's bland and predictable, tries to be original but fails completely. We at least get a few good shots of Iwan Rheon's butt, which is only a small comfort in the long run.

I'm going to be honest, I put of watching this movie for several months for multiple reasons, the most important one being the fact that I was unsure if I would even enjoy "Romeos".

I'm a gay transman myself and let's be honest, there aren't a lot of movies who even deal with transgender issues, yet alone the issues gay transmen face. (At this point I'd like to point out that the right word to use in this context is either "trans" or "transgender", most of the reviews on here use the word "trangendered", which is incorrect, in the same way a blind person is not "blinded". Anyway, moving on...)

I won't summarize the plot, considering it is probably the weakest aspect of the movie. To put it simple: It's a love story with lots of teenage drama. Instead I would like to emphasize that I was honestly impressed by Rick Okon's work as an actor. Sure, I would have preferred an actor who's actually trans, but I still thought Okon's performance was great. It was obvious that this was a role he really prepared for, the awkward posture is something I always catch myself doing, it was almost a perfect reenactment.

Most other issues for transmen were also portrayed accurately, constant fear of being found out, people accusing you of being egoistic, stupid questions, having to fight for your rights etc. Yes, some of it was different from my own experience, but that's the thing, there is not one universal experience. (However, two things were simply wrong/outdated. First, transmen usually don't do their own shots in Germany but have it mostly done by a nurse, but I suppose doing your own shots seems "cooler". Second, you can now change your gender marker without any surgeries, but this might have not been the case when the movie was released.)

The only thing I truly disliked was the constant focus on sex. Yes, the gay scene can be quite sexual, but there are obviously lots of gay men who think differently. Oh, and another things: There are definitely better ways to flatten your chest. I was constantly frustrated because the binder Lukas used was just horrible. I suppose it would have erased some of the plot points but it was just frustrating to watch, knowing that there are way better and more functioning alternatives.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie, especially to someone who has little knowledge of transgender issues.