5 Free Trans Movies Better Than Anything On Netflix
The proof is in their nearly perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores
Note: links list at the bottom of the article
Last time, you joined me in discovering two incredible streaming series on YouTube about trans men and women.
Ready for more? Here are several must-see trans movies available on ad-based but otherwise free streaming platforms.
Free Stuff
Okay, technically these movies are only free if you have the internet and a way to stream stuff. But if you can access Tubi, you’re good to go!
One or two of these trans movies unfortunately cast cis actors as trans characters, but that was the state of the industry back then. Having said that, these movies helped build the space that now allows for authentic trans actors to play trans characters.
Most of all, these movies tell powerful stories that stand the test of time.
5. Transamerica (Rotten Tomatoes: 83%)
In just one week, Bree Osbourne will finally have gender affirmation surgery. But before that happens, she receives a call from a seventeen-year-old named Toby, who is looking for the father he never met — the father who Toby doesn’t yet know was never his father. Bree is the woman who impregnated Toby’s mom.
Uncertain whether to tell Toby the truth about her identity, she takes Toby with her on a road trip across America, never losing sight of her goal to make it back to LA for her gender affirmation surgery, but increasingly conflicted about whether to reveal to her son that he has two biological mothers.
4. Soldier’s Girl (Rotten Tomatoes: 88%)
Set in 1997, Barry is a private with the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Calpernia is a trans woman working as a showgirl at a local transgender revue.
One night, Barry and his fellow soldier Justin venture out to the local drag show, where they instead witness Calpernia (played by queer icon Lee Pace), a trans woman living in plain sight.
Barry falls for Calpernia, but Justin becomes jealous and recruits a fellow soldier for a tale of revenge as tragic as Boys Don’t Cry.
3. Boy Meets Girl (Rotten Tomatoes: 89%)
Funny, emotional, and authentic, Boy Meets Girl tells a story of young trans love in a small-town part of Kentucky.
Ricky (played by trans actress Michelle Hendley) is a 21-year-old trans girl. Her only real friend is straight-edge Robby, her confidant for over 15 years. Their relationship is totally platonic — until a new face in town unveils old secrets. Or at least as secret as anything can be in a place where everyone knows your name — and your sexual partners.
2. A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story (Rotten Tomatoes: 91%)
The film dramatizes the events surrounding the 2002 murder of Gwen Araujo, a transgender teenager who was murdered by several teens after they discovered her genitals didn’t match their expectations.
1. The Crying Game (Rotten Tomatoes: 94%)
The movie opens with a thrilling and heartbreaking confrontation that leaves one man dead and his trans lover seduced by the person who killed him.
The film follows Fergus, a member of the IRA, who follows through on a promise to find and take care of his hostage’s widow. That widow is a hairdresser named Dil. Without revealing who he is, Fergus slowly falls for Dil — only for Fergus to face transformative uncertainty over his identity and orientation when he discovers Dil’s transgender background.
Links list (Tubi)
The end (of the article)
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