Call Me Helen

2015
6.3| 1h29m| en
Details

Is. This. My. Son? No matter how often Tobias Wilke poses this question, there's always only one answer: Yes! Tobias, can't believe his eyes when he comes to the airport to pick up his 17-year-old son Finn – and learns that Finn is now calling herself Helen and wearing girls' clothes. Finn/Helen reveals that she's always was a girl, and that she used her year abroad in San Francisco to pass the "everyday life" test. This is required by law for everyone preparing for the sex reassignment surgery they will undergo upon reaching majority. Reactions from Helen's friends, acquaintances and schoolmates cover the entire gamut from derision to solidarity. Especially Helen's father, a well-known chef, finds it difficult to accept a situation he cannot understand. But Helen nearly always finds the right words - and humor - to counterbalance the ignorance and jeers of those around her. It is the beginning of a long, winding road towards the sexual identity she is convinced is hers.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Jimmy Lindberg This movie had a lot of potential. The actors were very good and Helen made a convincing female, which many movies about transgendered people do not have. The issue here was the far too thin plot. It stretched the same issues for transgendered people to when they were no longer believable. The main plot that Finn goes away to California and one year later Helen returns is played decently, the problem is that nobody seems to talk with anyone until it's already been done. From her father's initial reaction it's understandable that Helen and her mother sneaked behind his back for almost nine years before telling him, what's not understandable is that Helen just assumes that coming home dressed the way she is will cause issues that could have been avoided. Had she eased her father and the school into this step-by-step instead of just coming out and expect everyone to treat her as every other girl then she wouldn't have been abused the way she had and she would have saved a lot of mental anxiety. I understand that Helen, in her naiveté, hopes for everyone to see her as she wants to be seen but that's not how the world works. The actor playing re-closeted Finn does a splendid job of portraying the real emotions and anxiety that a transgendered person feel at such a moment and is the big plus of this film. The big minus comes from the over-sugared ending where everything just solves itself during a dull one year flash-forward. Everyone who initially rejected Helen are now super-positive about her and everyone is so happy about it. Had the director wanted to keep this movie realistic then they should at least have some people who are so conservative that they wouldn't ever accept her for who she was. So the movie was enjoyable and realistic at times while it still lacked that real realism, which would have made this movie fantastic.