Protraph Lack of good storyline.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

nataliercurtiss XXY is a difficult movie to watch. It is violent and intrusive and strange and uncomfortable. The bleak seashores and small, cramped house, coupled with low, blue-green lighting and dirty windows and mirrors make the viewer feel as though they should not be there. We are seeing into the secretive life of a small family that has intentionally separated itself from the busyness of Buenos Aires in order to gain a sense of privacy. This is part of what makes it so interesting; it feels very intimate. There are a number of scenes in which Alex, an underage teenager, is naked from the waist up. While this seems inappropriate and uncomfortable initially, I think that it makes the audience question why we feel the need to sexualize and censor a teenager's body in the first place. The ambiguity of Alex's sex and gender lead us to another question: would we be uncomfortable if Alex looked more masculine? What combination of age, nudity, and gender makes us feel as though their body should not be seen? The film does not answer these questions. It also leaves a number of other ambiguities. Alex''s gender, for instance, is not conclusively stated. At the end, they decide that there is "nada que elegir" - nothing to choose. Although it is clear that they will not grow to "be a woman", Alex doesn't choose to "become a man" either. What is determined is that they are done trying to be something they're not. They are done taking pills, getting operations, and moving around the country to find some unachievable fresh start. What is determined is that Alex's parents will be there to support them no matter what they choose. This is the message of the movie. Life is uncomfortable, ambiguous, and hard to place. Gender is complex. Family is complex. Identities change. What we can all do is to simply be ourselves, respect others, and protect our loved ones. XXY is a highly intricate look into a seemingly unusual situation. It is not a feel-good movie; instead, it makes us think.

Fandust It's like they intentionally made the weirdest movie they could think of. It's weirder than Psycho (not better, just weirder). She has tits and a dick. So what does she do with it? She sodomizes a boy! Considering the fact that lesbians use dildos on each other, you would think that would be her natural mode of operation. Instead, they promote sexual confusion, the worst of both worlds, that is sodomy. And when she gets a chance to use it for what it's meant for, she walks away from the opportunity. Reminds me of Psycho's shower scene, minus the blood, the music, or anything else entertaining. Making it something you just really didn't want to see.

countrygirl_jo I won't repeat the extensive plot summaries offered by others, but simply say this is a wonderful, affecting film. As others have said XXY is NOT an accurate title for what the character of Alex is going through as this chromosomal picture would likely produce different development for her, but you can forgive it that. Intersex people (not 'intersexuals', or 'intersexed') - a term in growing use is people with DSD (Disorder of Sexual Development) - though rare , and more prevalent than you might think. Hospitals all over the world still take babies with 'ambiguous' genitalia and force on their parents surgery to put their kids into one gender 'box' or the other. Sometimes this can cause horrendous pain for the child as they grow - especially as puberty arrives.Something of this is touched upon here; the parents have bravely refused surgery for Alex (her father calls her 'perfect'), but have had to flee their home to another country in the face of prejudice and ridicule. Society's attitude is coldly portrayed by the surgeon and his wife, whose real agenda is to mutilate Alex to fit society's norms - irrespective of her (or, in fact more accurately, his) sense of self identity.The performances are tremendous, all round. From the two young teenage leads they are astounding. Strongly supported by Ricardo Darin who plays Alex's father. It's a film of great tenderness and compassion, and despite a rather bleak ending conveys great hope as a family grapples and comes to terms with the struggle of the child they thought was their daughter but is in fact their son.Beautifully, sparingly shot. Unsentimental and very moving.

natg520 Few works can take a subject which has been treated for centuries as a mysterious curiosity and bring new insights into the circumstance, or situation. New values. New appreciation. And with these, new mystery. This is a contemporary film, but it does not fail to recognize the mythical and historical threads of it's subject matter. Nor does it avoid metaphor and analogy. It is excellent because it succeeds in telling a particular story in a manner that reveals universal truths poetically. Rare for a movie to do that.The film is ostensibly about a young hermaphrodite being brought up by liberal parents who unlike many others in their situation, have allowed their child to choose it's sex. This requires the choice to be deferred, of course, until the child is old enough to choose so it has become the central decision or theme in all of their lives. The film takes place at a time when this family's situation is coming to a crossroads. The mother has instigated a sort of reopening of the conversation about the child.I won't say more about the plot. The originality of the film is in the way it creates mystery and suspense while generating empathy and understanding of the main character's predicament. The characters that surround Alex represent different aspects of how we as humans perceive the strange or unknowable. Tones of blue and ocean sounds like waves, birds, and rain combine with rustic interiors and village scenes of fisherman to create a timeless setting. It is in this somewhat removed and old world place that this revolutionary character comes of age.Things like cellphones and computers are conspicuously left out of the film. Again, allowing the story to take on mythic proportions. The effect is that the character's actions are seen as both new and singular as well as all important for the viewer. Everything Alex does is a critical aspect of Alex's identity in the future. Or is it? That's the great thing about the film. It sets up this dilemma that must be solved and then asks the question why. Why does anything need to be solved? There is enough here for the characters to simply exist and the movie is made well enough to make the point that that in itself is what people are most uncomfortable with. The characters are great, especially Alex. The cinematography is really interesting. The dialogue is thoughtful and the way in which the story unfolds makes this film an excellent drama that allows the viewer to think about aspects of being human without having emotional buttons pushed the whole way through.