Tomboy

Trailer.

Available Summary:

"Tomboy follows a 10-year-old gender non-conforming child, who moves to a new neighbourhood during the summer holiday and experiments with their gender presentation, adopting the name Mickaël." -Wikipedia.

Jack's Summary:

The adolescent protagonist of this film has moved to a new home with a younger sister, pregnant mother, and a stressed but affectionate father.

When the protagonist wanders away from the apartment to meet other kids and make friends, Lisa, a neighbourhood girl, introduces herself. "Mickaël," the protagonist says in reply, "My name is Mickaël," introducing himself both to Lisa and to the viewers as a boy. Lisa introduces him to the other children, as Mickaël, and he is happy.

Mickaël's life seems simple, as the children play. He is shy, certainly, but Lisa likes him and allows him to win a game so that the other boys will like him as well. About fourteen minutes into the film, however, viewers finally understand where Mickaël's shyness comes from, and why the camera lingered on him so dramatically after he said his name. After he and his sister bathe together, his mother calls out to him, saying, "Laure, get out of the tub!" That is when we learn that Mickaël, at home, is known as a sister and daughter, unlike how he presents himself with other children.

While the movie is titled Tomboy, Mickaël's gender is never labelled, and it's up to the viewer to decide whether Mickaël will grow up to be a trans boy/man, a butch, a gender non-conforming lesbian, etc. This is a film about an in-between period of youth and exploration; the tomboy stage of life which many different LBT+ people experience. For some of us, myself included, the tomboy stage represents a deeper need to present and live as a male. For others, it represents the masculinity of being a lesbian, or a bisexual woman, or a non-binary individual. This film is relatable for many different kinds of people.

At home, Mickaël continues being Laure, keeping his outside life a secret from his family. He plays soccer with neighbourhood boys, taking off his shirt and spitting on the ground like they do. As far as anyone knows, and as far as Mickaël feels, there is no difference between him and them. But future conflict is foretold when Mickaël, unable to pee standing up like the others, sneaks off to squat where nobody can see him. A boy comes to find him and Mickaël, scared of being found out, hurriedly pulls up his shorts, wetting himself as a result. Humiliated and afraid, he runs home.

Lisa, who has a crush on Mickaël, invites him over to her family's apartment the following day, not judging him for what happened. The pair dance and hold hands, and then Lisa (much to Mickaël's discomfort) puts make-up on him, saying that they are playing pretend. "It suits you," Lisa tells him, "You looks great as a girl." It is perhaps implied that she knows Mickaël is a "girl", and has a crush on him anyway. Mickaël, distressed, walks home with his hood up, hiding his face. However, he is unable to remove the make-up before his mother sees it. She praises him, assuming that he has put on make-up by choice, glad that he is presenting femininely where he usually looks and acts like a boy. As she hugs him, grinning happily, he is unsmiling.

Mickaël wants to join the other children the next day, to go swimming, but wants to continue presenting as a boy throughout. He cuts his one-piece swimsuit so that it looks like male briefs, and uses Play-Doh (or another type of modeling clay) to create a makeshift packer which he sticks in his swimwear. The day is idyllic. The children splash at each other, push each other into the water, and play around like any other group of kids. All the while, Mickaël gets to be a normal boy. Afterwards, Lisa takes him aside, and he has his first kiss with her.

Mickaël's worlds start to collide when Lisa comes to visit his apartment, finding that only Jeanne (Mickaël's younger sister) is home, and asking after him. Mickaël swears Jeanne to secrecy, promising to bring her along when he goes to play with neighbourhood kids, as long as she doesn't out him. In testament to Mickaël's long-standing masculinity, and thanks to the open-mindedness of youth, Jeanne immediately accepts Mickaël as her brother and refers to him that way around the other children. It is clear that she has noticed and accepted Mickaël's gender diversity long before now.

When his mother finds out that he has been living as a boy, she is furious. She slaps him on the face and admonishes him for lying. His father, despite softly reassurring Mickaël, defends his wife's actions. Nobody, except for Jeanne, is willing to let him exist as he is.

When his mother demands that he wear a dress, he protests that he doesn't want to. His mother gives him no choice, aggressively grabbing his arm and forcing him to leave the apartment in the dress, frightening Jeanne. She takes him to friends' houses, Lisa included, ensuring that he is outed to everybody before the school year starts. She says that she does not mind him "playing the boy" at home, but that everyone else must know him as a girl. Afterwards, Mickaël runs away to the forest, taking off the dress, revealing the shorts and singlet he'd been wearing underneath.

Word has spread about Mickaël's identity. The neighbourhood kids chase him down and tackle him to the ground. "We hear you're a girl," one boy says, "We're gonna check that." Lisa steps in, trying to protect him, but the boy convinces her to participate instead; "If she's a girl, then you kissed her. It's disgusting. Right?" Whether because she genuinely agrees with that sentiment, or because she is afraid of being punished too, Lisa agrees that would be disgusting for her to kiss a girl. She puts her hand in Mickaël's shorts, feeling his genitals to "check", as the other kids demanded. She does not seem surprised by what she finds, possibly confirming the earlier implication; she knew all along, and did not care.

Mickaël is left crying in the forest, alone.

Mickaël's mother seems utterly unaware that outing her gender non-conforming child has had traumatic consequences. A short time later, she asks whether Mickaël wants to go outside and play, not understanding that he is now an outcast and has been assaulted by the people he previously called friends.

The film ends with Lisa standing below Mickaël's balcony, looking up at him. After he walks down to meet her, she asks, "What's your name?" Mickaël answers, "My name is Laure." Realising that Lisa still wants to be friends with him, even if he cannot use his chosen name or live as a boy, he smiles.

Like many of us, Mickaël is prevented from living as he is most comfortable, but he still has hope for the future. Imagining that Mickaël is a trans boy or a non-binary youth, perhaps he/they will transition at an older age. Imagining that Mickaël is a butch or gender non-conforming lesbian, perhaps she/they will find love and affirmation with Lisa, and in the future will be able to embrace masculinity by her side. We don't know what the future holds for Mickaël, or what labels will suit Mickaël best, but we do know that Jeanne stands with Mickaël and perhaps Lisa will too.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Non-sexual underage nudity, very brief underage drinking (with parental supervision), sexual harassment, bullying, transphobia, lesbophobia, parental aggression.