A Fantastic Woman (2017, Sebastián Lelio) (Patreon)

56/100

Starts out superb, then gradually turns into the very film that I'd initially admired it for not being. Because Lelio opens with the doomed Orlando rather than with Marina, I—ignorant of the logline—jumped to the wrong conclusion, and so was pleased when it becomes clear that we're joining a tender romantic relationship already in progress, not some sort of Crying Game scenario (i.e. a "journey of discovery" for the cis dude). Likewise, the immediate aftermath of Orlando's sudden death was significantly more nuanced than I'd have expected, with Marina navigating a barrage of strenuously polite microaggressions rather than flagrant hostility. "I want you to know, I understand and support you," the Sexual Offenses detective tells Marina, quickly correcting herself when she starts to say "people like you" instead of "women like you"; the effort at basic respect only serves to underline her investigation's needless, grotesque invasion of privacy. Reminded me powerfully of Get Out's quietly vicious first act, which I adored, and while I'm mindful of how traumatic it can be for trans or trans-adjacent viewers to witness an onslaught of even "minor" humiliations, A Fantastic Woman's approach didn't trigger my aversion to stories about passive victims of wanton cruelty...until it did. The family's rancor shifts from generic anger at the other woman heavily tinged with transphobia into outright flaming bigotry, culminating in a physical attack that specifically targets Marina's appearance. She must "pass" as a man at the sauna in order to discover what's in Orlando's locker. We get ugly "How dare you show your face here?" scenes at the wake and at the funeral. In retrospect, Lelio's thuddingly literal use of "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" was a warning sign (though I'm grateful to him for finally flipping me on The Alan Parsons Project's "Time," which I loathed at age 13—blatantly gorgeous, what was wrong with me?). Still can't bring myself to hate this film, because that early stretch is so incisive about majoritarian thoughtlessness and because Daniela Vega so beautifully embodies the struggle to maintain one's dignity in the face of same. But I can readily understand why some people do.