Dorathen Better Late Then Never

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

brittleake One of the reasons I appreciate this film is that it doesn't trivialise an under-discussed issue, intersexuality, that lends itself well to stereotypes and simplifications. Instead of painting with a broad brush, the creators of XXY simply decided to tell a story of one person, and gave that story the care and treatment it deserved. It is a real balancing act to handle such a sensitive issue, but I feel that XXY succeeded in a way few other films could have. One of the most intriguing parts of the film in my view, however, has to be the budding romance between the protagonist, Alex, and Alvaro, the son of a surgeon who is friends with Alex's parents, that leaves them both confused. Both of them do not conform, in differing ways, to heteronormative standards of sex and sexuality, face rejection from those around them, and are unsure of their place in the world. Their relationship and the dynamics surrounding it make for a fascinating storyline that left me thinking for hours after I finished the film. The interplay of all elements at work here – shame, fear, but also self-discovery and an internal awakening – made me enjoy the film, even if it could be slow at times. The best adjective I can think of to describe this film is brooding. It is dark, (sometimes painfully) slow, and pensive. I can barely think of a film that made me ask so many questions while I was watching it, but I think the best question comes from the protagonist, Alex. When told by her parents that they would support her regardless of which choice she made regarding her gender, she responds "and what if I didn't have to choose anything?" It would be an understatement to say the film became rather slow at times, but overall I would highly recommend this film.

Claudio Carvalho In a small coastal town of fishermen in Uruguay, the biologist Kraken (Ricardo Darín) works and lives in a house at the sea side with his wife Suli (Valeria Bertuccelli) and their aggressive fifteen year-old daughter Alex (Inés Efron).When Suli welcomes her former best friend Erika (Carolina Peleritti) that comes with her husband, the surgeon Ramiro (Germán Palacios) and their teenage son Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky) to spend a couple of days with her family, Kraken learns that his wife invited Ramiro to operate Alex. Meanwhile Alex and Alvaro feel attracted by each other; however, Alvaro finds that Alex is hermaphrodite and she finds that Alvaro is gay. But the troubled and outcast Alex has the right to choose what gender she wants for her. "XXY" is a cruel and heartbreaking movie about coming of age, rejection, sexuality and choices. Alex has loving parents but is rejected by the locals and is not sure about her sexuality while Alvaro is gay, rejected by his father and also a confused teenager. The story is very well developed and supported by magnificent performances. For those like me that do not understand the title "XXY", I searched in Internet and found in Wikipedia that "Klinefelter's Syndrome, 47, XXY, or XXY syndrome is a condition in which a human has an extra X chromosome. While females have an XX chromosomal makeup, and males an XY, affected individuals have at least two X chromosomes and at least one Y chromosome." However, Alex is clearly hermaphrodite and the article does not mention this medical condition for XXY Males. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "XXY"

lcb931023 XXY is a story about a 13 years old child called Alex and the people around him/her. Alex is hermaphroditic, which means his/her gene is XXY and he/she has both male and female genital. Alex's dad is a marine biologist, and he decided to move the family to a village near sea. Alex's family made him/her intake female hormone to remain a girl – until adolescent, when Alex stopped taking it for reason unexplained in the movie. Without the hormone, Alex's male aggressive tendency began to rise. She broke her friend's nose for leaking Alex's secret to the villagers. Alex's mother invited her family friend, Ramiro to stay with them for a few day in the hope that Ramiro as a plastic surgeon will "normalize" Alex. Ramiro brought his family along. He has a 16 years old, buck-toothed son Alvaro whom Ramiro thought has gay tendency. Alex showed her desire of sex to Alvaro quite frankly, and eventually they had anal sex with Alex being the one penetrating. However, they got interrupted when Alex's dad, Kraken, walked by and spotted them. They separated, but later Alvaro committed to Alex that he liked it. Several villager boys found Alex alone, and forcibly pulled her pants down to inspect her double genital. They attempted to abuse her sexually, but were stopped by the friend who gave away Alex's secret. Kraken thought of reporting it to the police but didn't because he was concerned about the whole village knowing Alex's unique sexual identity. Kraken visited a hermaphroditic man who has a family. The man told Kraken his past, and encouraged him to allow Alex to choose her sexual identity. Later, when asked, Alex wondered, "what if there isn't a decision to make?"Alvaro's family is leaving. Alvaro bid farewell with Alex in a clouded mood. Alex asked if Alvaro regret for not seeing her again, or haven't seen her penis. Alvaro didn't answer, and Alex showed him her penis. Alvaro still said nothing.There are many psychological conflicts in this movie. Alex herself is in puberty, and as her sexual hormone begin to change, her action became more aggressive and masculine. Those personality and sexual identity changes lead to confusion of sexual identity, of the answer to "is it a boy or a girl?" Many people, including Alex's mother, consider her abnormal. In such situation, Alex will grow doubt of herself and hatred to the environment. In Erkinson's psychosocial development, adolescent development is about one's identity, so Alex will face role confusion in the rest of his/her life. Alex's father, in contrast, believes that Alex doesn't have a problem. She is perfect in his eyes. Thus, he protect her from "hearing every idiot's opinion" and give her freedom to decide her sex. But there comes the more compelling problem: Why is such decision necessary? Why is the question "Is it a boy or a girl?" Alex realized that being him/herself is more important than what others think. This indicates that Alex is having a successful adolescence, even more successful than his father expected. The movie didn't give answer to Alex's sexual role, but suggested that the role is not just simply male or female. Abnormal is an opinion, not a fact.Alvaro's sexual role is also different from majority. He had sex with Alex, but acted as the role of "woman" and enjoyed it. This indicates that Alvaro is homosexual. Ironically, his father Ramiro talked to Alvaro and stated coldly that he's not satisfied with his son, and the only thing he's glad about him is that he's not a fag. While the talk between Alex and her father Kraken demonstrate a successful adolescence development, the talk between Alvaro and his father still leave Alvaro in confusion. He craves to have his father satisfied, but is unable to do so. Since his father wants him to be heterosexual, Alvaro wants himself to love Alex as a girl too. However, Alex knows that he doesn't. In the final scene, Alex asks if Alvaro like her or her body with penis, and showed him her male genital. Alvaro didn't say one word after the questioning. His development is still dazed and confused, not because he is homosexual, but because other people, especially his dad's opinion.

countrygirl_jo I won't repeat the extensive plot summaries offered by others, but simply say this is a wonderful, affecting film. As others have said XXY is NOT an accurate title for what the character of Alex is going through as this chromosomal picture would likely produce different development for her, but you can forgive it that. Intersex people (not 'intersexuals', or 'intersexed') - a term in growing use is people with DSD (Disorder of Sexual Development) - though rare , and more prevalent than you might think. Hospitals all over the world still take babies with 'ambiguous' genitalia and force on their parents surgery to put their kids into one gender 'box' or the other. Sometimes this can cause horrendous pain for the child as they grow - especially as puberty arrives.Something of this is touched upon here; the parents have bravely refused surgery for Alex (her father calls her 'perfect'), but have had to flee their home to another country in the face of prejudice and ridicule. Society's attitude is coldly portrayed by the surgeon and his wife, whose real agenda is to mutilate Alex to fit society's norms - irrespective of her (or, in fact more accurately, his) sense of self identity.The performances are tremendous, all round. From the two young teenage leads they are astounding. Strongly supported by Ricardo Darin who plays Alex's father. It's a film of great tenderness and compassion, and despite a rather bleak ending conveys great hope as a family grapples and comes to terms with the struggle of the child they thought was their daughter but is in fact their son.Beautifully, sparingly shot. Unsentimental and very moving.