XXY

Human nature is such a disturbing notion. There are many things that upset me, and there is a scene in this that really pushed me to the edge and it deals directly with the way humans react to certain things.

The story is about a 15 year old girl named Alex, well not really a girl, but not really a boy either. She is a true hermaphrodite, which is actually extremely rare. She has both sex organs, there are several different types of hermaphrodites, and this one is the rarest. A world renowned surgeon and his family are coming to visit Alex and her family to determine what the best course should be for their odd situation. Alex is not aware that she is being observed. Her parents made the right choice to not perform any surgeries on her before she knew exactly what she wanted to identify as, but that in itself is causing a new set of problems since she is starting to become very interested in sex, and she wants to be the dominant aggressor, during sex she acts as the man. The surgeon and his wife brought their son Alvaro who is a little older than Alex. He is interested in her, but is sort of stand offish, I think he's gay and that her ambiguity throws him for a loop, hes attracted, but not to her as being a girl.

People outside of this little group start to find out what she is and things turn bad. There is rarely a happy ending for people like this. And it comes down to the difference between a persons individual nature and human nature in general. Men impregnate women, its the simplest thing in the world, and that's what our nature revolves around. Alex's nature doesn't fit that, she is neither the feminine nor the masculine, she is both, so where does she fit in? The answer is simple and rather sad. She doesn't, and never will. Even if someone does accept her for as she is, she will always be untrusting of people, and her behavior will always cause a problem. She appears to be a girl, but acts as a boy, but not in a "Butch lesbian" sort of way. People like this are a gender unto themselves, she isn't even intersexed, she is a perfect combination of the two sexes, and she cant decide her gender.

The sad part is that society will expect her to choose one, or she wont fit in. Alex is beautiful, but she is a different animal than us entirely, she acts by a nature above our own, basic and yet complex, primitive and yet light years ahead of us. She is a perfect marriage of all that is man and woman, and for that people will try and destroy her.

The acting is incredible all around, its all very underplayed and desperate. The two fathers (Alex's and the surgeon) are butting heads, but they only really come head to head once. The same thing goes for the mothers. Their stories are certainly interesting, but Alvaro and Alex are the real show. The whole movie is very wet and gray, cold even. it all seemed very real, with the help of some well placed and executed hand held shots.

It was a very strong movie, and troubling not only because of some rather upsetting scenes but also because it turns the mirror on our own nature when it comes to people who are different, and its not a flattering image. 8/10 stars.

Director: Lucia Puenzo

Starring: Ines Efron, Martin Piroyansky, Ricardo Darin, Valeria Bertuccelli, German Palacios, Carolina Pelleritti