A Fantastic Woman (2017) Film 4, Written by Sebastián Lelio and Gonzalo Maza and directed by Sebastián Lelio.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/a-fantastic-woman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fantastic_Woman

Marina (Daniela Vega) is A Fantastic Woman or if you’re being picky, a fantastic transgender woman. Sebastián Lelio’s Oscar-winning drama is in many ways a revenge movie.

Marina is a singer and part-time waiter who lives with her boyfriend, Orlando (Gonzalo Maza) in a smart apartment in Santiago. They have a dog, and he’s the type of older man that has bought tickets to whip her away on a surprise vacation.

Everything changes overnight. Orlando has a stroke and collapses on a stairwell, bumping his head. Marina rushes him to hospital, but he dies.

In technical jargon, this is the inciting incident. In Shakespearian tragedy usually someone dies. In King Lear he gives up his throne and in that way lies madness.

Marina’s love and lover has been taken from her. Her grief is invalidated because she is classified as neither man nor woman, but a despised thing. Without Orlando’s protection those with grievances against her vent their hatred against her. Police threatened to charge her with Orlando’s murder because of the unexplained bruising on his head. Orlando’s son wants her out of the apartment, pronto. He takes the dog away with him. Orlando’s ex-wife warns her not to turn up at the wake or funeral, because they had a daughter together, and she’s not wanted, or better still quickly forgotten. What she can do for her is return Orlando’s car.

These are some of the obstacles she must overcome on her hero’s journey.

I’ve no more idea what it feels like to be transgender than it is to be King Lear, but we’ve all experienced grief. The film teaches a bit about both. The message will be lost on some. But that’s life in right-wing hate-land.