Is Girl an important film? Fortunately, there are many people far closer to the subject than I to determine if this film about a trans adolescent ballerina is important or not. What I do know is that it was important to me.
Why? Because in this subtle, understated Belgian film I expected the antagonists to be heartless school bullies and judgemental parents, but in fact, the classmates are accepting (though occasionally callous out of ignorance) and the father is loving and supportive the likes of which we've not seen since John Hughes was directing. The real antagonist in Girl is Lara's body. It is this masculine form that she hates yet finds herself trapped inside that she has to battle for the length of the film.
So, does it matter that the actor portraying the teenage girl fighting both to transition and maintain her place in ballet school is cisgender? What I do know is that the 15-year-old's performance matters to me. Young Victor Polster turns in a breathtaking performance full of sensitivity, strength and vulnerability that does Lara incredible amounts of justice.
Girl is like my best girl friend with whom I can hang out where doing nothing special and saying nothing of consequence brings us closer together than ever. She may not be accepted by everyone, but she means everything to me.
