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March 31 marks Transgender Day of Visibility. Here are 10 movies and TV shows about the transgender experience you should watch
The conversation about gender identity in cinema has long since moved beyond festival or auteur cinema. Today, these are complex, aesthetically thought-out stories — from dramas to TV series and documentary road movies. They help to understand the experience of transgender people and look into a universe where characters try to find their own identity through tragedies, bodies, memories, relationships and searches.
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Emilia Perez
Director: Jacques Audiard, 2024
“Emilia Perez” defies genre boundaries. It's a crime musical, neo-noir, and trans drama all rolled into one. The story of Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a formidable Mexican drug cartel leader who decides to disappear to finally become what he's always dreamed of being – a woman. He hires lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana) to help him fake his death and find the best surgeons. Years later, Rita meets Emilia Perez, an elegant, noble woman who wants to return to her family, but in a new role, trying to atone for the sins of her bloody past.
Carla Sofia Gascon, the lead actress, became the first transgender actress to win the Best Actress award at Cannes (sharing it with her co-stars).
The Danish Girl
Director: Tom Hooper, 2015
A visually flawless, yet very intimate and poignant drama. The events unfold in Copenhagen in the 1920s. The plot centers on a married couple, Einar and Gerda Wegener. Their lives change due to a coincidence: Gerda asks her husband to pose instead of a female model in order to finish a portrait. This moment becomes a trigger for Einar – he realizes that the female image, which he called Lili Elbe, is not just a role, but his true essence.
Eddie Redmayne's performance is incredibly subtle: Einar's transformation into Lily takes place right before the viewer's eyes. But the strength of Alicia Vikander's character is no less. Gerda in her performance is an example of unconditional love and acceptance. The film reminds us of how dangerous the first steps in medicine regarding gender reassignment were. This is a story about the courage to be yourself when the whole world (and even your own biology) is against you.
Boys Don't Cry
Director: Kimberly Pierce, 1999
If The Danish Girl is a sophisticated aesthetic drama, then the film based on true events Boys Don't Cry is a blow to the soul. The tragic story of Brandon Tina (born Tina Brandon), played by Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar for this role. The way she moves, the lowness of her voice, the way she tries to be brave while remaining vulnerable, is beyond realistic.
The plot is as follows: a transgender man, Brandon, arrives in a small town in Nebraska to start life over. He finally feels like himself: he makes friends, falls in love with a local girl, Lana, and becomes “the guy” in the company. But when his secret is revealed, the sympathy of those around him instantly turns into primitive cruelty. The director worked on the film for five years, for this she had to study court archives. Tina's real story shocked America and drew attention to the vulnerability and rights of transgender people.
“Girl” (Girl)
Director: Lucas Dont, 2018
Lucas Dont's “Girl” is an intimate psychological portrait of 15-year-old Lara, who dreams of a career as a ballerina while undergoing a transgender transition. Unlike social dramas, this film focuses on internal conflict and the metaphor of the body as a prison: through grueling training, pain from pointe shoes, and radical self-restraint, Lara tries to tame her biology. The incredible performance of Viktor Polster, a professional dancer, allows you to feel the heroine's state almost physically, conveying her impatience and desire to become herself without unnecessary words.
The film's depth and poignancy are added by the heroine's relationship with her father: his unconditional support emphasizes that even in a loving environment, inner pain and dysmorphia can remain unbearable. Despite the controversial and radical ending, the film remains a powerful statement about the difficult path to harmony with one's own “I”.
“Will & Harper” (Will & Harper)
Director: Josh Greenbaum, 2024
A warm, heartfelt, and sometimes hilarious road trip documentary, this is the story of the real-life friendship between comedian Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele, who worked side by side on Saturday Night Live for over 30 years. When Harper comes out as a transgender woman, Will, instead of just sending a message of support, invites his friend to join him on a road trip across America. It's a 16-day journey from New York to Los Angeles, during which they visit bars, steakhouses, and small towns, trying to figure out how their friendship will function in the new circumstances.
There is no script or deliberate drama here. We see real people: Will, who is sometimes afraid to ask the “wrong” question, and Harper, who is relearning to feel safe in spaces that were once familiar to her. Since these two are professional comedians, the film is filled with brilliant jokes.
Fantastic woman
Director: Sebastian Lelio, 2017
Chilean drama that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Marina is a young waitress and talented singer who loves Orlando, a man 20 years her senior. They plan a future together, but suddenly Orlando dies of an aneurysm. From that moment on, Marina's life becomes a battlefield. Instead of giving her the opportunity to mourn her loved one, Orlando's family and the authorities begin to treat her like a criminal. She is kicked out of her apartment, banned from attending funerals, and subjected to humiliating checks simply because she is a transgender woman.
The main role is played by a transgender actress with colossal magnetism. Sebastian Lelio uses very expressive metaphors. One of the most memorable moments is when Marina walks against a strong wind that literally bends her in half, but she keeps moving. It is a perfect illustration of her life. Or the scene in a nightclub that turns into a fantastic musical number is an escape from a gray and cruel reality.
Transamerica
Director: Duncan Tucker, 2005
Transamerica is a surprising blend of tragicomedy and classic American road movie. It's a film that manages to be poignant, ironic, and incredibly human at the same time.
Bree is an educated, somewhat prim transgender woman living in Los Angeles who is finally about to have her final gender reassignment surgery. But a week before the event, she gets a call from prison: it turns out that she has a 17-year-old son, Toby, whom she never knew existed (the result of a chance relationship during her college years). The therapist refuses to sign off on the surgery until Bree comes to terms with her past. Thus begins a journey across the country, where Bree poses as a Christian missionary, and Toby has no idea who this strange woman really is.
Pose series
Directors: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, 2018–2021 (3 seasons).
Pose is the first series ever to feature so many transgender actors in the lead roles (MJ Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Induya Moore), adding authenticity to every look and mise-en-scène.
New York, late 80s – early 90s. This is the era of the heyday of ballroom culture, where representatives of the LGBT community, mostly African-American and Latino, create their own “Houses”. In these Houses, they do not just compete in categories like “Face” or “Vogueing”, but also find a chosen family. Against the backdrop of this brilliance, the tragedy of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which takes away the best, and the brutal social inequality of the Reagan era unfold.
Transparent
Director : Jill Solovey (now using the name Joey Solovey), years released: 2014–2019
Perhaps the deepest and most honest family saga of the decade, a painful unraveling of the knots within one intelligent Jewish family in Los Angeles.
The story centers on the Pfefferman family. Three adult children, each entangled in their own crises, selfishness, and search for intimacy, learn that their father, retired professor Mort Pfefferman, is starting life as a transgender woman named Maura. This becomes a catalyst that forces the entire family to reexamine their boundaries, secrets, and identities.
“Euphoria” (Euphoria)
Director : Sam Levinson, release years: 2019–2024.
While previous films have focused on the process of transition or social struggle, “Euphoria” offers something radically new: the image of a heroine whose transgenderism is an important, but not the only or even the main feature of her personality.
The hyperrealistic and at the same time surreal drama tells the story of teenagers who are looking for ways to escape from pain, loneliness and the pressure of social media through drugs, sex and violence. The plot focuses on Rue (Zendaya) and her relationship with Jules (Hunter Schafer), the new girl in town. Jules is a transgender girl, but the series does not make her coming out the central drama. She simply lives, loves, makes mistakes and searches for her place in this chaotic world.
Hunter, a transgender woman herself, brought incredible authenticity to the role of Jules. Her character is complex, ethereal, creative, and very bold, and her style set trends for an entire generation.