Tangerine is a movie that looks and feels like it takes place on a hotplate and is infused with white hot lightning, which at first seems a little strange given the film’s Christmas Eve setting and its holiday themes. But honestly, if the movie had been made any other way it wouldn’t have been as fun, as moving or as effective. And that’s not the only thing that makes it stand out. A huge part of what makes this movie so powerful and amazing is that its two main characters, both trans women, are actually played by trans women who are also incredibly talented actors. Because of that, and their involvement in crafting the film’s story and dialogue, the movie has an authenticity that is rarely found in films with trans characters.
As a trans woman, I’m pretty willing to watch most movies about or featuring trans women, and I’ve been waiting to fall in love with one of them for a long, long time. I came close when I saw Gun Hill Road, but in the end, I was really just enamored with Harmony Santana’s performance. It wasn’t until I saw Tangerine that I really felt butterflies.
This movie is, above all else, sweltering and electric. Most of the movie’s slow-burning heat comes from Mya Taylor’s amazingly deep and deliberate — and often uproariously comedic — performance as Alexandra, one of the film’s two transgender main characters. The film’s crackling and bubbling energy comes from Alexandra’s best friend and partner-in-crime Sin-Dee, played with energetic hilarity by fellow newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez. Together their characters are an unstoppable force of nature moving through the streets of Hollywood. They inject so much life and vibrancy into the movie that you’ll feel like you’ll live till you’re 150.
Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in TANGERINE, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
If you break it down, Tangerine (which was shot entirely on iPhone 5s phones and ends up being intimate and gorgeous because of it) is a story of one day in the life of two friends. Sin-Dee and Alexandra both work as sex workers in LA. Sin-Dee’s recently been released from a four-week stint in jail, and when she meets up with Alexandra at Donut Time on Christmas Eve, she finds out that her boyfriend and pimp, Chester, cheated on her with a cis girl. The film follows Sin-Dee as she tries to track down the “fish” and find her Chester, and Alexandra as she hands out flyers for her singing performance that night. But really, the film is so much more than that. I wasn’t joking when I said it’s a great Christmas movie. In the end, Tangerine is all about the importance of chosen family and being there for the ones you love when they most need you. What could be more Christmas-y than that? The film’s finale is honestly one of the most touching and beautiful moments of true friendship I’ve seen on film in years.
While the two stars give off completely different energies, both have perfect comedic timing and the movie has a sense of humor unlike any other. They’re also a terrific comedic team. Sin-Dee’s humor comes from her over-the-top and out there personality, while Alexandra has the deadest deadpan sense of humor I’ve ever seen. Director and co-writer Sean Baker said that in crafting the film and dialogue, both Rodriguez and Taylor had a lot of input, and Rodriguez even brought the idea of Sin-Dee chasing down the “fish” after being inspired by one of their friends. Baker also said many of the film’s funniest lines were improvised by Rodriguez and Taylor.
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, James Ransone and Mya Taylor in TANGERINE, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Both Rodriguez and Taylor were brilliant. Rodriguez should be getting “funny sidekick” or even “funny main character” roles left and right. I’d watch her in anything. Taylor should have her door being knocked down by producers looking to cast the lead in their next big dramatic comedy. She has a real power and magnetism to her, the kind that makes stars. These two were able to deftly make the entire theater burst out in laughter over and over again, and then move the entire theater to tears fifteen minutes later.
It’s also true that this movie is harsh. It’s rough, it’s sometimes violent and the transphobia in it is very, very real. It doesn’t pretend that these women are perfect people or that trans women of color have it easy. Baker said that when he first got Taylor to sign on, she said that she’d be in the movie if he promised her two things. She told him, “Number one, I want you to show how brutal it is, how tough it is for the women out here, the hardship and what they put up with every single day. And number two, I want you to make this hilarious.”
There was something else I noticed while watching this movie. It was exciting, and not just because of the Mercury-flying-through-the-solar-system-at-one-hundred-thousand-miles-per-hour speed that it moves at, but because this might be first major motion picture I’ve ever seen that didn’t make me feel like it’s trans characters were being othered. Even in movies like Gun Hill Road and Boy Meets Girl, which both have trans women in major roles, and Paris Is Burning, which was full of trans people, I always felt like the intended audience was cis people and they almost didn’t expect someone like me to be watching. With Tangerine, I finally felt like I was a part of the intended audience. There were inside jokes, it wasn’t overly male- or cis-gazey, the characters seemed familiar. It was familiar. It was also downright wonderful, seeing such a huge number of trans women in a single movie. This was a world where trans women don’t exist in a vacuum, where they have other friends who are trans, it was just like the real world.
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mickey O’Hagan in TANGERINE, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
I’m not saying this movie was perfect. It focuses too much on another character, the taxi driver and regular customer of Alexandra and Sin-Dee, Razmik, played with skill by Karren Karagulian. He’s clearly meant to be a familiar face for all the cis people watching and an entry point into the world of transgender sex workers, so I do understand that his storyline makes the movie more accessible to a wider audience. Still, I would have rather seen more screen time for Sin-Dee and Alexandra. There were also a few times where I felt like maybe the audience was laughing at the characters because of who they were, and I’m specifically talking about them being trans women of color and sex workers, but that’s maybe more on the audience than on the filmmakers. Some of the violence is also fairly disturbing for a film that’s largely a comedy, but again, I feel like that was a part of the film’s goal in accurately portraying this world. None of these problems took me out of the the movie for long, though.
Other cis filmmakers should pay attention to how Baker and co-writer Chris Bergoch made this film. They did it the right way, finding actual trans women and asking them to help tell the story. Not only that, but according to Baker, even though the film is an independent movie and therefore isn’t making huge profits, “some of the proceeds are going to the (Los Angeles LGBT) center on McCadden… and that’s through our very generous and wonderful executive producers Mark and Jay Duplass and Marcus and Karrie Cox at Through Film.” You may remember Jay Duplass from his role as the almost always terrible Josh on Amazon Prime’s Transparent. Tangerine should be setting the new bar for what a movie about trans people is.
Eddie Redmayne will almost definitely get Oscar buzz for his performance as a trans woman in his upcoming film The Danish Girl, and Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall will probably get nationwide distribution. But if you’re looking for a film that accurately portrays the lives of trans women, has amazing performances by trans women of color and tells a great story about trans women, this is the one you should go to. It really is a shame that those movies will get the attention and praise that this one deserves. Things don’t necessarily have to be that way, though; people need to get out and see this movie. If it’s popular in LA and New York and Toronto, it will move to more cities. If it’s popular in those cities, it will move to even more. Tangerine is the type of movie that is going to be talked about for the rest of the summer, the rest of the year and probably for a while to come, so the smart move would be to go and see it now.
Tangerine is currently playing in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, but will open in more cities in the coming weeks. To find out more about the movie, you can like it on Facebook or check its website to see where it will be playing near you.
This film sounds so good and funny. I really hope it gets a wider release! The stills are gorgeous too. Thanks for a great review Mey!
Mya Taylor <3 #transvisibility
this looks amazing!
Shot entirely on iphones and released by a major production company? Wow, technology has sure come a long way! :-)
Putting it on the list!
i can’t get over it was shot on iphone’s. that is incredible.
Thank you for talking about the movie and bigger deal it’s showing a slice of life for TWOC. Most reviews mainly talk about the creator and their choice to use phones(mostly due to budget constraints, which I think is a bit of bs, they just want an extra attention grabbing headline). Do you know if it will come out to netflix?
It probably will in maybe about a year, it just barely came out in theaters, so it probably won’t be on netflix for a while.
Hey, they’re doing a showing in Tempe not too far from me! Hopefully I’ll be in town and available for it.
Mey this looks so goooooooooooood!!! Like, a movie about TWOC STARRING TWOC that is hilarious, well acted, AND beautifully shot?? And I just checked the screenings and it’ coming to the indie movie theatre in my town!! Thanks so much for telling us about this!
my friend who is really into film and grew up in LA is stoked abt this movie but neglected to mention it was about two trans women?! I’m interested in what the “important” thing abt this movie will be to a larger/more mainstream audience.
I want to see this so bad! But I’m in Australia! What can I do??
Ugh, me too!
It’s showing in the New Zealand Film Festival this July/August in the major cities. Do you have any Aussie festivals happening/coming up?
It’s showing at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August
I might actually watch this in a cinema. Actually, considering where it’ll be locally, it’s almost likely. And I hate cinemas.
Wow, this sounds super. Hope it makes it here into fly-over land so’s I can watch it on a big screen.
This movie sounds amazing, I hope I’ll have the opportunity to watch it here.
I’m so glad to read your review. I heard an interview on the radio with the director and one of the stars and was intrigued.
Yay it’s actually coming to my town! So going.
I saw the trailer for this a week ago and my jaw dropped. I am praying I don’t work the night it comes to Minneapolis and am hoping to get enough people there to fill the theater!
I love that someone made a movie about two trans woc and the thing that really shocks AS readers is that it was shot on iphones. Like that’s the lovely and safe community that’s been built here. Like movies about/for trans women should be expected, should be the norm, but iphone movies – woaaah, we’ve reached the future. I love that.
I love that you brought up that perspective, I hadn’t noticed that, even my first reaction was WOW AN IPHONE
^^yesss love this!
Mey, I am so glad to read this. I loved this movie when it played at SIFF this spring, but I saw it with a mostly-straight, all-cis group & I just needed a gut check on it. It’s also now one of my favorite Christmas movies!
(And yes, kids, that’s Ziggy from The Wire. He never changes, apparently.)
Seattle folks, it opens at the Egyptian on July 24th. It looks awesome on the big screen.
This looks great! Thank god Autostraddle is here to tell me about these things. Really hoping it comes to the UK at some point!
Thanks for the review! I can’t wait to watch. One note– could you please change “prostitute” to sex worker in this article? The P word is actually an anti-sex worker slur and many, many sex workers ask that non-SW people not use it. This doesn’t seem to be common knowledge, unfortunately, but we’re trying to educate the world one person at a time. :)
I can’t wait to break out the popcorn for this one, thanks so much for the review!
i am so excited to see this! thanks for the great review, mey.
I can’t wait to watch this!
I can’t wait to see this!
Thanks for the review! Hope I get to see it.
Yay Tangerine! I have some mixed feelings about the film but I’m ultimately overjoyed that it was made and is getting so much attention. And Mya Taylor has since played Marsha P. Johnson in a short film that just finished shooting!
I read this review and got pretty excited about being able to support an independent film with trans leads, then I googled it to find out when it’s coming to my city and got stopped by this review: http://defamer.gawker.com/trans-sex-work-comedy-tangerine-is-the-most-overrated-m-1717662910
I’d love to defer to your judgement on this instead of this gawker writer I’ve never heard of… But this review makes what seem like some pretty damning points? Anyone who’s seen it want to weigh in? It’s gotten mostly stellar reviews but gawker is really raining on my parade right now…
Well, i mean, i obviously disagree with most of what Rich Juzwiak said. He’s entitled to his opinion, but I thought the movie was hilarious (the “joke” he gives as an example, referencing Chris Brown, didn’t get a laugh in my theater) and as a trans latina, the characters seemed familiar to me and very multi-dimensional. I also thought both of the leads gave terrific comedic performances. I tweeted about this yesterday, but I don’t think we can say that all depictions of trans women in fiction as sex workers are automatically negative. I think this movie is the proof of that. I’m really, really wary of anything that says “these are the rules for what trans women can and can’t be.”
I guess if you absolutely do not want to watch a movie that has trans sex workers, flawed twoc or some disturbing scenes, this isn’t the movie for you.
Thanks for the response! I think I was put off less by the content and more by the idea of the two white cis men setting out to make a movie with that content specifically, if that makes sense–but that’s small potatoes if the characters are real rounded people that ring true as you say.
One of my favorite things about this, just by reading the title, is the phrase “trans women”. I feel like, even in movies that include a trans woman character, there’s always only one, when in reality usually people have support networks. It’s nice to see inclusion going beyond just having a token trans person.
This looks amazing and I love things about chosen family <3
Really hope it comes to the UK soon!
If you’re in Portland, it’s showing at cinema 21! The tix are a little pricey, but no more than mainstream theatre and you can eat pizza and drink local beer if you so desire. My partner and I were definitely intrigued by the trailer and lucky to have access to a showing.
The one movie I’m seeing in theaters this summer. And the one movie that matters most this summer.
OMG, I can’t believe my luck that this is playing in Salt Lake (starting July 31, it looks like). I can’t wait to see it!!!
It’s because it premiered at Sundance! Salt Lake film is awesome.
Oh, I was gonna say “oh cool, someone from SLC” since that’s near where I live and it’s always good to see autostraddlers from near me, and then I saw your picture and realized that I already know you from tumblr, so it’s cool to see you on here!
aww yiss that’s great news! I can’t wait to see it!
and thank you for this beautiful review, Mey :)
Yeah!!! I think it’s funny how small queer internet circles can be, despite the huge expansiveness that is queer people on the internet at large–I love it. :) I think I’ve also seen you in the Salty Straddlers Facebook group, Mey.
I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I saw the premiere at Sundance this year, and was really blown away by the authenticity of the story and the interesting characters. Also, the soundtrack is phenomenal. I can’t wait to buy it. I actually really randomly chose to watch it at the festival. I went in knowing nothing about it, and the blurb in the program said nothing about it being about trans women. I thought it was a really interesting choice that Sundance didn’t advertise that it was about trans women, especially because there seemed to be a lot of LGBT movies that did that in to get hype about them. Anyway. It was beautiful. And everyone in the audience literally gasped when it said “shot entirely on iPhone 5s” in the credits.
Ooooh this is so exciting. I’ve been watching hella queer and trans movies this summer so I’m glad this popped up on my radar. Gracias, Mey.
Ahhhh, i went to see this tonight with a bunch of straddlers in berkley and it was OUTSTANDING. so fucking funny, and harsh, and beautiful, and heartbreaking. it’s so refreshing to watch a movie with a story that i actually want to be see told, rather than the same old story about white cis dudes we always get. amazing amazing amazing.
Just saw this in Chicago (it’s at the Music Box for a few more days at least!). SO GOOD.
(spoilers) I can’t believe so many people liked this movie or at least that they didn’t find it to be really problematic. It was horrifying. I wanted it to be funny. I wanted to like it. I was really excited to see TWOC play TWOC in a setting that didn’t seem totally unrealistic. I just couldn’t find anything funny about them being incredibly catty to one another. The movie depicted a woman being beat over the one of the leads jealousy over her cheating pimp. Sindee was just self-centered and mean. The only redeeming moment was when she held off confronting whatshisface the pimp to go see Alexandra’s show. I was all “yay, maybe she’ll go support her friend.” Which she kinda did but she was also kinda smoking meth after Alexandra expressed not wanting to be around it. What the hell? I understand they want to reach viewers through humor, but that shit is not laughable.
As a trans woman I love seeing new films about trans characters but really…I could *reallY* do without the “fish” nonsense. Misogyny. Showcasing transMisogyny while casually indulging n more misogyny? no thanks.
The movie depicted a woman being beat over the one of the leads jealousy over her cheating pimp. Sindee was just self-centered and mean. The only redeeming moment was when she held off confronting whatshisface the pimp to good info for me