Review of XXY (2007) by Walter M — 03 May 2008

[font=Century Gothic]In "XXY," Alex(Ines Efron) is a 15-year old with both male and female sexual characteristics who is being raised by her parents(Ricardo Darin & Valeria Bertuccelli) as a girl. She told her former best friend, Vando(Luciano Nobile), about her secret but he reacted in such a way for her to punch him, resulting in her expulsion from school. A friend(Carolina Pelleritti) of her mother's has come to visit her family, her husband(German Palacios) being a plastic surgeon who is being consulted about possible surgery on Alex. However, it is their son, Alvaro(Martin Piroyansky), who interests her the most...[/font].

[font=Century Gothic]"XXY" is a highly provocative genderblender(especially when it comes to teen sexuality) that has the very intelligent thought that children do not have a choice when they grow up since they are essentially discovering the person they truly are. To that end, Alex has stopped taking the corticoid which will dampen her female development, to the dismay of her mother. At the time, I thought Alex had chosen being a boy, but that is not it either. In fact, I think she is happy with the status quo, even if the rest of the world is not.(The movie presents these arguments in a very understated way, especially in the realistic way it conveys the lack of communication between the generations.) In the end, Alex would probably fare better in a large city with a diverse society, compared to the hyper-masculine fishing village near where she currently resides. [/font].