Tesis sobre una domesticación (Spanish) [Thesis on a Domestication]

Honestly, this was such a refreshing film. Rather than leaning into the familiar trans victimhood narrative, it goes somewhere much more nuanced and compelling. It unapologetically allows its trans protagonist to inhabit two spaces usually treated as incompatible for trans characters. She pursues her sexual fantasies while also attempting to create the kind of family life trans people have historically been excluded from. The film’s point is basically that identity holds multitudes, and it refuses to confine her within society’s expectations. A girl can have it all, and this film argues that confidently.
The main character is a successful, famous trans theatre actress. She’s fierce, highly sexually active, and entirely unapologetic about it. One night, she meets a gay Mexican lawyer who remained in Argentina, let’s be real, for the hot men. They’re strongly attracted to one another and begin a relationship. He meets her family, and before long it’s obvious that having a relationship hasn’t altered her behaviour whatsoever. She continues hooking up with local men on the side, and their relationship is openly defined as just that: open. The film takes a turn when they choose to adopt a child, and near the end we learn that the child is HIV positive. Yet this shift toward domesticity and building a family doesn’t go over well with her trans friends, who think she’s betraying them by trying to slot herself into a conventional life. At the same time, their relationship develops, changes, and endures plenty of highs and lows. There’s a continual clash between convention and her rebellious, free-spirited side. To her, the lawyer is home—her anchor to happiness and safety. But is being with him gradually taking her further away from who she truly is? The ending hits awkwardly when she learns that her son was in a fight at school after another child discovered a video of her having sex with somebody else.
It moves at a very fast pace, and an awful lot unfolds during its two-hour runtime, while still leaving plenty for the audience to interpret on their own. For example, how does a gay lawyer suddenly fall for a trans woman when their open relationship still gave him the freedom to be with other men? That kept bothering me. And honestly, I was hoping for a little more man-on-man action, but the trans actress is unquestionably the core of the story, and everything turns on her decisions. Interestingly, neither lead is ever given an actual name in the film, which I don’t think I’ve encountered before. It examines AIDS stigma, desire, eroticism, and what family might mean for a trans actress attempting to understand her own life. As parenthood gets closer, the tension between them intensifies, and she becomes torn and desperate, with her desires seeming impossible to direct while she’s being drawn into a more domesticated existence. This queer couple refuses to allow their relationship to become a passionless arrangement, and the film is perceptive and frank in showing that sexual desire does not simply disappear because you’ve settled down. We watch the actress sleep with numerous suitors, including both hook-ups and regulars. I really wish we had seen more of the husband’s actions as well. Both performers are absolutely brilliant, and the lead, played by a real-life trans actress, is completely magnetic.
The ending does come across as slightly abrupt, leaving you with the sense that the film had more it wanted to say but pulled up short. It resembles a thesis that never quite digs deeply enough beyond its own abstractions. Still, the two leads bring such fire and passion that they keep it from ever becoming dull. Ideal for festival audiences and anyone who enjoys cinema that sincerely attempts something different. (7/10)