Popular reviews

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  Review by Robin Moon (they/them) ★★

  Queer Film Challenge 2018

  Week 5. A queer film starring a trans actor

  It's a little frustrating when a movie actually has a transgirl playing a transgirl but doesn't even try to assert her identity at all. Everyone just constantly misgenders her and it's never commented on. She's referred to with incorrect pronouns and deadnamed throughout the film, except when she's with her friends or sleeping with a guy who's only using her for sex. And like, if you want to draw that context of her not being able to be herself at home, that's fine, but at least make it plain that her parents trying to impose an identity on her that isn't hers is bullshit and not some…

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  Review by Meagan

  I really couldn't care less about Enrique's struggle with toxic masculinity and transphobia/homophobia. As other reviewers have pointed out, Vanessa (the lovely Harmony Santana) is constantly misgendered and dead-named throughout the film by everyone except her friends, with no indication that this will change for our character after the credits roll. The entire narrative is overshadowed by Enrique's frustration that he has been robbed of something (a son, a namesake), and that Vanessa is responsible for taking it from him. I'm so tired of straight men's perspectives pervading every fucking narrative, including and especially queer ones. BLAH.

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  Review by Jordan Rowe ★★½

  Well-intentioned, "Gun Hill Road" has a few poignant moments and good performances, but ultimately feels like a contrived, cliched after school special.

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  Review by Lily Jackson ★★★★½

  this one was hard. it's a beautiful film, so raw and truthful in showing the trans experience in a place and home that isn't accepting. this film should be, and IS about vanessa, and both this film and la mission presents the narrative as centered on the father as the lead when all we really care about are the children and their experience as an outsider in a community that so prizes family

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  Review by Zā ★★½

  Part of the Queer Film Challenge!
  Week 5: A film starring a trans actor/actress!

  Ah. Well, it goes without saying what every other person has said that this film focuses too much on cis feelings rather than trans ones. It reminded me so much of Boy Meets Girl where we got such a great trans actress playing such a great character, but we don't get a good film in terms of trans stories. Harmony Santana is great as Vanessa, a name by the way I had to keep reminding myself because she gets deadnamed far more times than her real name is used. Not to mention, the film tries to end on a more positive note sort of like Ma…

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  Review by amateur magician

  this is a movie you can feel came from an earnest place, unlike most movies about trans people out there, but even so it uses so many of the already well known sad tropes that it makes it a painful watch.
  although all the tropes are dealt with in a manner that doesn't feel forced and you can clearly see it comes from way more grounded and honest place, it still is really exhausting to sit through. honestly, i feel tired right now.

  it's an important narrative nonetheless, but you really have to be on the right mindset to watch it, there's zero to no "fluff" to calm you down inbetween scenes.

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  Review by itschristin ★★★

  The actors in this movie performed really well. It was also awesome that an actual trans actor played a trans character! Other than that, I wish I liked this more. The entire film was on one note and didn't build up to anything. The score was basic and boring. The visuals weren't exciting. I wanted this to make me feel more but I feel almost nothing.

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  Review by andperidot ★★★½

  still not totally sure how to feel about this one. harmony santana is an incredible actress and i think the story is well-put together with some masterful subtext, but a lot of it is incredibly hard to watch and i don't know if the ending's payoff is satisfying enough to merit it. still, maybe that's the point.

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  Review by MattAloi ★★★

  "Gun Hill Road" is a raw, unembellished indie film surrounding the struggles of major transitions. An ex-con toxically masculine father figure returns home to find his only son becoming a girl. There are scenes of rape, assault, and abuse which add to the gritty elements of the film. While all of that is certainly emotionally captivating, it lacks development and subtlety in the story. Not much is learned, and characters don't really change for better or worse. It's really just something to watch for a school project, which is exactly what I did.

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  Review by JP Fournier ★★½

  "Gun Hill Road" has some fine performances in a film that feels it's getting somewhere but kind of pulls the rug from under you at the end.
  The story is about a father who when getting released from jail wants to become the ideal father for his family, but has a difficult time accepting his son's transformation. We get to see a father attempt to "straighten out his son", only to push her further away. The whole film is a build up on our protagonists ability to accept his Michael for whom she truly is.
  There is a bit of a revelation by the end but considering the, sometimes awkwardly painful, wrong decisions made along the way, the ending felt like a kick in the face.

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  Review by Jordan Ford ★★

  Occasionally bordering on melodrama, Gun Hill Road misses the mark by choosing to focus on Enrique's post-prison recovery instead of Vanessa's gender transition journey. (I mean, just look at the film poster. 😒)

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  Review by Mark Diba ★★★

  Toxic masculinity gonna tox.