Movie Review - Gossamer Folds (Outfest 2020)

Lisa Donato is a filmmaker making her feature debut as director. It's her second feature as screenwriter. Her first was Signature Move (2017), a lesbian romance. She's done about a half-dozen short films previously and many of them have been about queer characters or relationships. One of her most recent short films is There You Are (2018) about a transgender woman and a dying relative. She follows that film with this one that is also about a trans-woman, particularly a trans-woman of color, penned by actress-turned-first-time-writer, Bridget Flanery. Except, the film isn't told from the point-of-view of the trans-woman. There You Are is told from the point-of-view of the trans-woman. Even though the character in There You Are has no dialogue, the story is still told from that character's perspective. This film gives the trans-woman quite a bit of dialogue, but still the film isn't told from her perspective. It's not that we don't get the trans-woman's perspective to some degree, but it feels a bit imbalanced. Jen Richards wrote There You Are and she's a trans-woman in real life. From what I could tell, Flanery isn't trans. She's a cisgendered woman, so that could account for the imbalance.

Alexandra Grey (Empire and When We Rise) stars as Gossamer, a black trans-woman living in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother has passed away and she lives at home with her elderly father. She grew up poor, but her father is a retired professor and writer, so they are able to live comfortably in a nice home in the suburbs, but Gossamer still works several jobs in order to support herself. She went to beauty school, so she can do hair and makeup. She also works as a seamstress, mending clothes and even being a costume designer for a club downtown. Her father clearly loves her and allows her to live with him, but he still misidentifies her, mis-gendering her constantly. Her father keeps "deadnaming" her. Deadnaming is when someone calls a trans-person by the name they were given before they transitioned, which the trans-person doesn't use anymore. In Gossamer's case, her deadname is George. Deadnaming is offensive to trans-people. Gossamer eludes to other ways in which she's offended. Yet, because this film isn't really told from her perspective, we never get those other moments in her life.

Jackson Robert Scott (Locke & Key and It) co-stars as Tate, a 10-year-old boy who lives next door to Gossamer. He and his parents recently moved next door from the city. Tate is in the 4th grade and he's very precocious. He's not good at riding his skateboard but he does carry around a pocket dictionary, which he constantly reads, looking at new words that he hears. He's adorable and he has what some call spunk. Yet, he can be a little bratty. This is probably due to the fact that his parents are having marital problems. As a result, Tate is forced to spend time next door with Gossamer than with his parents.

This allows for him to get to know Gossamer, despite the fact that his father, Billy, played by Shane West (ER and Once and Again) is horribly transphobic and probably homophobic. Yes, this does allow us to get to know Gossamer, but only through the lens of this little boy. It's not through her point-of-view. Donato's film has its heart in the right place. The point is to build empathy and compassion for this trans-woman and trans-people in general, recognize the trans-person's experience. Unfortunately, the film spends so much time with Tate and dealing with his parents and their marital issues that we don't get perhaps enough time with Gossamer to really sell us on her plight.

It's not until a scene toward the end of the film where Tate has a vision of Gossamer in a fantastical way that I thought this film leaned toward the Magical Negro trope in Hollywood. This would be instead the "Magical Queer" character. The Magical Negro character is a stock character that exists merely to aid or assist the white character. Donato's film avoids that criticism because we do get more insight into Gossamer than the average Magical Negro or Magical Queer character, but it gets to a point where what's lacking in what we learn about Gossamer's life becomes glaring.

We see Gossamer is dating a tall, handsome black man, which obviously bothers her father. Yet, we don't even learn her boyfriend's name or anything about their relationship. We don't learn how she met this boy or how long they've been dating or anything. We're told that Gossamer goes to work at night at some place in the city, but we never actually see her at work there or her interactions with her co-workers. We're told that she faces hardships as a trans-person, but we never see any those hardships depicted at all, which would underscore her desire to leave Missouri for New York. It's all second-hand stuff when it comes to a lot about Gossamer's life, which is frustrating.

Sprague Grayden (Jericho and Six Feet Under) also co-stars as Frannie, the mother to Tate. We spend more time with her and get way more about her life. We're with her in her home and her interactions with her husband, Billy. We go with her to her job. Grayden is great as this frustrated wife and mother who teeters on depression. It's just that her story has been oft-told, so it's not that moving.

Not Rated but for general audiences.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 36 mins.

Streamed through OutfestNow.com.