A Fantastic Woman

Director: Sebastián Lelio

2017 / 104min / DCP

Awakened in the night by the noise of her middle-aged lover suffering an aneurysm that will ultimately prove fatal, Marina (Daniela Vega) transports him to a Santiago hospital, then attempts to make herself scarce before the authorities arrive, afraid—justifiably, as it turns out—of the treatment she’ll receive as a young transgender woman of a lower social standing than her partner. A fresh, high-style spin on neo-noir that upends the femme fatale trope, boasting an alternately tender and ferocious central performance by Vega as a besieged woman battling for her dignity and her right to mourn lost love.