Every time I laughed at Ivy Wolk, I would hate myself afterwards.> EDIT: fuck it, 5 stars. I literally can't stop thinking about this movie.Somehow, this movie is harder for me to articulate my thoughts than the first movie. So far, Louise Weard has done a great job at making all of the films feel so different from each other while maintaining a consistent theme of loneliness and gender identity.
Personally, I've been wearing more feminine clothing and going by very loose pronouns for a couple of weeks now. I'm not exactly sure what I identify as, but if somebody asked, I would say genderfluid or gender nonconforming. I get fairly emotional whenever I talk about it with family and friends. I appreciate how Weard understands that gender is a highly complex topic within society, particularly now, given the acceleration of transphobia. The need to find solace in other people like yourself is all over this movie. For god's sake, the movie opens with a press interview with the orange sex offender in the office. There is an uncertainty to the future of Trans people, and Louise Weard isn't afraid to show the darker actions taken by Trans people out of desperation.
Circle is a fantastic lead, as she identifies as Trans, but feels as if she doesn't belong within her group. This group is undoubtedly a cult with terrifying power dynamics, taking orders from a malfunctioning AI talking head. They do some horrendous things to Circle. Lock her up in a cage, misgender her, mock her, drown her in a bucket of cum, and much more that feels so utterly degrading. What makes this interesting, though, is that they are doing this because they have been shunned from society.
When Circle escapes the cult, the way people talk to her is quite affronted. They ask her if she still gets erections, and more than that, while it's okay to have those questions, it could definitely go past somebody's boundaries. When Circle meets other cisgender people, she engages in interesting conversations with people like Keller, who used to be Non-binary, and is fascinated with Circle identifying as a boy.
The ending of this movie is endlessly bittersweet, and I don't feel like I have the level of entryway given my identity to comment on it. I have my interpretations, but I feel that hearing the words of somebody who fully has a grasp on their gender can comment on it. Let me just say, it is quite powerful.
I think I like the first movie better, but The Best of Both Worlds is still fantastic. The acting is so naturalistic, the dialogue is great, the composition is creative and evokes a sense of danger, and so much more. Weard has improved upon some of the more stationary shots of the first film, and I can't wait to see where she goes with it.
It is long as fuck, and some parts could have been trimmed, but like the first film, it did add to the experience, and never made the movie feel as long as it was.
Check it out, if you can. It's totally worth it.
