by Viggo Ekman
Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Breton Lalama, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Xavier Lopez, Ali Garrison
Intro:
… genuine, without pretense or false poses.
Hearts will fill with a warmth of hope when watching Really Happy Someday. In a movie where we witness the challenging journey through gender transition, see the separation of lovers, and sense the risk of a dream’s destruction, we never fall into darkness. There is always a light that shows the way to our hearts — and, of course, to the hero of the story — culminating with an ending that fills hearts to the brim.
The story is about a transmasculine person named Z (played by Brenton Lalama), who has recently commenced testosterone treatment. This affects his voice, making it impossible for him to perform in musical theatre auditions. Z is stuck. He is enthusiastic about his new gender identity and has paid a high emotional and psychological cost, yet he feels that this path may come at the expense of destroying his long-held dreams — the very work that he has always been good at.
The screenplay, co-written by J. Stevens and Brenton Lalama, draws on their personal experiences of not fitting into society’s rigid categories of male and female. The screenplay is not complicated, filled with purity and sincerity, and everything is in its rightful place to inspire and give hope for the audience, especially the LGBTQI+ community. It’s all beautifully circular, a simple testosterone injection scene at the film’s beginning becomes meaningful and pivotal by the end.
As a director, J. Stevens has made bold and fitting choices to bring this story to life. He chooses a restless camera style that reminds us of the Dardenne brothers’ realistic and socially conscious work. Moreover, most of the film is shot with telephoto lenses with shallow depth of field, not afraid to create daring frames. The result – reality so real and tangible that some scenes — such as the training sessions with the vocal coach, which are the sweetest and most hopeful moments — could easily be mistaken for documentary footage.
The actors all fully understand – if not live – their roles. Their words come from their hearts, not from dry lines in the script. Above all, Brenton Lalama presents reality in a mesmerizing way.
Imagine a camera glued to his nose throughout the film; even close-ups and extreme close-ups don’t overwhelm the actor, but instead become witnesses to his smiles, his astonished eyes, his despair, and his joy. Moreover, playing a theatre performer whose voice changes during gender transition poses many vocal challenges, all of which Lalama masters — whether he’s messing up badly after weeks of practice in front of his teacher or in the final act, delivering a flawless performance that fills the audience’s heart with joy.
Really Happy Someday is a film that knows its message well. It is genuine, without pretence or false poses. It comes from the heart and settles there. Most importantly, it is a story about giving hope and motivation to the LGBTQI+ community. Yes, things may not always be as good as they are in this film, but such a story must exist, so that everyone knows Z, draws inspiration from him, and, like him, thinks of light even in the darkest moments.
