Film Review: 52 Tuesdays (15) (Australia 2013) (Director: Sophie Hyde), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Friday 21.08.2015, 20:15

This is by the same director who made 'Life in Movement' (2011), the excellent documentary about the choreographer Tanja Liedtue. Though I only became aware of this fact after I became interested in seeing this film due to it's personal relevance to my life. 

52 Tuesdays focuses upon a mother transitioning to be male and how this impacts on his teenage daughter. The title refers to their agreement to meet every Tuesday throughout the first year of the transition, while the daughter stays with her father. 

I will get my one tiny quibble out the way, it did feel ever so slightly long. Having said this I felt it was a beautifully acted, balanced and considered film. If people find it difficult to define what exploitative is, they should watch this and then consider what would be the polar opposite to it, and they would be on the money. I feel quite overwhelmed that there is such a positive though complex portrayal of this nature publicly available. 

I found the film very moving, though as I said at the start, I have to acknowledge how personal this is to me. Having said this, I would find it hard to imagine any decent person seeing this as anything other than a profoundly humane and engaging film. For the average punter I would still give this ten out of ten, though due to how affecting I found it, I don't feel I can give it a rating reflecting my feelings towards this. In a completely different way, I see this as being just as important a film as my favourite film of last year ('Ida' 2013). 

I'm sat feeling and thinking I should try to say more. I don't feel I really can without getting silly, I think this is more of a reflection of how positively affected I am by this. Thank you Sophie Hyde and everyone who worked on this.