Anything’s Possible: Film Review
Following the conclusion of Pose, Billy Porter turned his attention to directing and his feature directorial debut, Anything’s Possible, has finally arrived.
This high school romance tells the story Kelsa (Eva Reign), a transgender girl who develops a crush on her art class partner Khal (Abubakr Ali). The only problem is that her best friend (Courtnee Carter) also fancies Khal and declared it publicly first while Kelsa kept her feelings hidden. Drama ensues when Khal picks Kelsa over her straight cisgender friend.
I have never seen a classic high school romance drama with a transgender lead and about a transgender person navigating dating for the first time after their transition. While this is an enjoyable film, I also learned a lot about the transgender experience and that is why representation onscreen is so important – for a certain community to see themselves portrayed for once and for the majority to understand them better.
It isn’t a traditional story where one of the straight people in the relationship has been swapped for a transgender person and the romance plays out like normal. No, this is very much about the transgender experience and what it’s like to date as a transgender person and what it’s like going out with a transgender person. Kelsa isn’t sure if Khal accepts her for who she is and wonders if he’s dating her for “woke points”, while Khal bears the brunt of ignorant questions like “does this mean you’re gay?” But the film doesn’t feel bogged down with heavy messages – it is a light, breezy movie. It is just a cute romance and coming-of-age story.
Porter discovered a sensational lead in newcomer Reign – you care about her and want her to find happiness. I also loved Renee Elise Goldsberry as Kelsa’s super supportive mum, who gets a terrific speech towards the end.
Anything’s Possible is a really sweet film that opened my eyes to the transgender dating experience.
On Prime Video from Friday 22nd July