User Reviews

In a small coastal town of fishermen in Uruguay, the biologist Kraken (Ricardo Darín) works and lives in a house at the sea side with his wife Suli (Valeria Bertuccelli) and their aggressive fifteen year-old daughter Alex (Inés Efron).

When Suli welcomes her former best friend Erika (Carolina Peleritti) that comes with her husband, the surgeon Ramiro (Germán Palacios) and their teenage son Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky) to spend a couple of days with her family, Kraken learns that his wife invited Ramiro to operate Alex. Meanwhile Alex and Alvaro feel attracted by each other; however, Alvaro finds that Alex is hermaphrodite and she finds that Alvaro is gay. But the troubled and outcast Alex has the right to choose what gender she wants for her.

"XXY" is a cruel and heartbreaking movie about coming of age, rejection, sexuality and choices. Alex has loving parents but is rejected by the locals and is not sure about her sexuality while Alvaro is gay, rejected by his father and also a confused teenager. The story is very well developed and supported by magnificent performances.

For those like me that do not understand the title "XXY", I searched in Internet and found in Wikipedia that "Klinefelter's Syndrome, 47, XXY, or XXY syndrome is a condition in which a human has an extra X chromosome. While females have an XX chromosomal makeup, and males an XY, affected individuals have at least two X chromosomes and at least one Y chromosome." However, Alex is clearly hermaphrodite and the article does not mention this medical condition for XXY Males. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "XXY"

I Just saw this new movie from the Argentinian cinema and found it deeply moving.

To me the idea of showing the inner struggle of an hermaphrodite with such a profound respect was a First. I never saw a movie treating this issue before --not at all in a Hollywood product!!-- and never so seriously and delicately.

Not only his/her struggle, but both his/hers parents. His/hers parents lived 15 years (the child's present age as shown in the movie) of sheer torment. What could they do about the problem? Where could they go to talk about it without raising eyebrows? - the world can be terribly cruel with anyone "different".

I remember only one scene with an albino hermaphrodite in a frontal nude scene in a Fellini movie -"Satyricon"- But there, it was used only as shock value. A freak case. Not here! This is a very humane movie, very tender in it's treatment of a very delicate problem (Could it be because the director is a woman?).

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

And the beautiful, truly beautiful ending! in the past a character like this one was always killed at the end: It drowned, it fell in an abyss. It perished, no matter how. It did not have the right to live.

It seems that now we have grown to be more mature somehow; in this movie, not only the hermaphrodite refuses to be operated on, to become either a man or a woman, NO! she decides to remain what she is: A naturally born human being with BOTH SEXES. And really...Why not?? Great film! great, GREAT film!

*END OF SPOILERS*

Technically though, I found a couple of faults: Although my mother tongue is Spanish, after a while I had to put the subtitles on, since almost all the actors (Mainly Ricardo Darin -the father of the hermaphrodite) go through the movie mumbling their words, sort of like Marlon Brando used to do thanks to the Actor's Studio's Method, and I was missing part of the dialogue (My hearing is excellent, but the straining wasn't worth it, and I was using headphones!); also they talked in extremely low voices, so, since the sea rumble or the rain noise are on most of the time as background sound (They are on location in an Uruguayan beach town), they drowned the actors voices most of the time.

I imagine the director wanted to give the feeling of casual, nonchalant conversation, fine, but you can come up with a more efficient sound quality employing other ways, not as it was done in this movie (Maybe they didn't have enough budget, or the sound wasn't top drawer, I don't know).

The other fault was the length of some scenes..., it looked like one of those old 60s movies from Sweden, where the actors were shown on profile, looking to the right into the horizon for two full minutes without speaking a word or moving at all.

But these two faults are minor really. This film makes you think about the very wrong and terribly unjust ways of contemporary society when looking at minorities. Excellent all actors and a superb director.

An interesting movie that explores the issue of intersex identity and the subsequent difficult relationships that such people my encounter - most because of the polarized perspective of most sis-gendered people...

The movie tried a little too hard though IMHO and the edgy feel to the locations, family dynamics and relationships explored in this movie doesn't really lend itself to opening up this subject to the audience.

In short - it fell short of my expectations of delivering a good movie on the subject of intersex people and how this impacts upon their lives and the people around them. I'd like to see this movie done in a typical 'Suburbia' setting which can then explore the social issues and attitudes more openly and really challenge what people think upon the subject.

This is an area that many people are still very stigmatized for (despite the fact that 1 in 2000 babies are born with an intersex condition!) to such an extent that the subject is not one that is readily discussed in public at all!!! The dirth of movies on this subject is also testament to the difficulty of the subject.

The Argentinian Spanish language film XXY is about two young characters coming to interact with one another amidst the somewhat barren autumnal months of coastal South America. One is a hermaphrodite, a girl with certain male characteristics and therefore as a physical specimen confused in their overall gender. The other will serve only to become confused, specifically in regards as to where their own sexual orientation lies as the relationship and the persistent coming together the pair of them share deepens and deepens. Around them, adults in the form of parents and guardians discuss the best plan of action for the hermaphrodite, as important decisions regarding the life of a youngster are deliberated. Whilst clocking in at under an hour and a half, the film covers a lot of ground and it's to Lucía Puenzo and his co-writers' great credit that they manage to both take and explore such meaty material in the efficient manner they have done.

One of the two leads is Alvaro (Piroyansky), an adolescent boy whom arrives at the coastal locale in Uruaguay with his mother and father whom themselves have been called upon to sort out the very issue that will have an immense change on their son's life, at least. Alvaro himself is a mess of long, bushy hair, goofy looking headphones and a coat for the wintry season that looks a good size or so too big for him; a quiet boy that doesn't say much when he and his family arrive by car ferry to their destination – a character whose gaze it is established we first observe the world from out of and someone who will not forget his trip to this place in a hurry. His foil is the aforementioned cross-gender individual Alex (Efron), themselves an adolescent and offspring to that of sea-life biologist Néstor Kraken (Darín) and his wife Suli (Bertuccelli).

It is Alex's gaze with whom Alvaro will share the film with, a looking up through the floorboards upon Alvaro's arrival as he trudges overhead shot from their point of view and acting as an early and the primary instance of Alex being in a position of dominance over Alvaro, in that he does not see them hiding. With the gazes they share comes the story of friendship and fondness, something you could classify a love story, that they additionally share. Alex's problem is unbeknownst to Alvaro, Alex's duality in gender not an item to the ever tepid Alvaro thus seeing the film effectively qualify as a mediation on the power of one's demeanour and sexuality and the affect that can have on one person whom reads them plain and simple as a member of the opposite sex. Obvious parallels to 1992's The Crying Game may very well have already been made. XXY is a long way from representing an overly played Hollywoodised idea of two attractive people, of whom are clearly of definitive genders, on an limply forged path that leads inexcusably to the pair of them falling in love with each other. As their friendship begins, progresses and concludes in a sex act; the film has essentially unfolded a natural tale of one person and their sexuality driven by hormonal unrest meeting head on with a young boy whose exposure to many things in life is still in its infancy. Alex's constant pushing of the boundaries; their raising of the stakes in how far things might go between them is quite painful to watch as Alvaro is powerless to everything going on but equally fascinating.

The question as to whether Alvaro would have given Alex the time of day had he known of her condition arises, XXY ultimately more interested in the naturality of how human beings reach a decision in a given situation plus the events that arise out of that, than placing two quirky characters of different sorts on a similar plain and having them undertake arcs which inevitably lead to connection. The film balances all its 'issue' content nicely with the coming of age stuff, the thrill being in their interactions by day and by night with the terror and the danger omnipresent in where it all leads to. The norm for Alex will see them sit, barelegged, on a sparsely populated beach trying to interact with Alvaro and talking dirty to him from the get-go; with fleeting attempts to fill his head up with novel ideas of female supremacy as they lay there topless on a bed the order of the evenings. Very soon degrees of confusion, temptation and lust combine to form a dangerous cocktail.

The flirtations and interactions will lead to a sex act which comes to upset Alex; confuse Alvaro, who is close to all but technically raped, and will do most of the above as well as worry and conflict Alex's father. Reading into the framework of what leads to where as a demonisation is possible, the sequence a crescendo of whatever sexual tension there was between the two young leads. Its coming of age content is probably a little more interesting than its addressing of the issue at hand; but the extremity, certainly in regards to the sensitive nature of the situation, is given a knowing and rightful treatment. In inadvertently observing the pair of them, Néstor comes to realise his daughter is 'of an age' and that as they make their way towards this age, her own choices will have to become more and more prominent thus aptly taking on the weighty substance of a father coming to terms with what's best for their own young. It's here the film effectively veers down another route, the moral weight of deciding between what's either correct for young Alex or whether the right answer is even to let them decide. XXY doesn't lecture to an audience about what's right or wrong for those suffering the issues at hand, instead creating believable characters and unfolding the events within their lives in an engrossing manner.

Adapted from a short story by Sergio Bizzio, XXY is the story of Alex (Inés Efron), a fifteen year old intersexual born with genitalia characteristic of both male and female. Argentine director Lucia Puenzo, daughter of Luis Puenzo who directed The Official Story, though tackling a delicate subject has avoided sensationalism while crafting a deeply touching and poignant coming of age story about the pain of growing up without truly knowing who you are. Though minimal amounts of dialog are used and there are long periods of silence, XXY does not come across as being pretentious or strained. Rather it captures the uncertainty and awkwardness of teens with authenticity and awareness.

Alex's father Kraken (Ricardo Darin) is a marine biologist who wants to protect his daughter/son from the stares and questions of society and moves the family to a remote seaside residence in Uruguay. Now that Alex has become a teen, he wants to give her the right to choose whether to lead her life as a man or a woman while emphasizing that he loves her unconditionally and thinks she is "perfect" exactly the way she is and the way she is not. Alex seems to have made her choice by stopping the hormones that have kept her female but her mother Suli (Valeria Bertuccelli) pressures her to decide about surgery by inviting friends Ramiro and Erika (German Palacios and Carolina Pelleritti) from Buenos Aires to stay with them, one of whom is a doctor who specializes in plastic surgery, her invitation being on the pretext that she wants Ramiro to get to know Alex.

Along for the ride is their shy teenage son Alvaro, brilliantly portrayed by Martin Piroyansky who knows nothing of Alex's condition and has some sexual issues of his own. What is not anticipated, however, is that Alex and Alvaro will form an immediate emotional connection, though neither will admit it to the other, and in a beautifully controlled scene, have a sexual encounter with Alex revealing herself by playing the male role. Though the encounter was witnessed by her father, he is not judgmental only perplexed about what his proper role should be in Alex's life, and discusses Alex with a gas station owner who had to make a similar choice in his teens.

Kraken's emotional support stands in sharp contrast with Ramiro. In one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in a long time, Ramiro is unspeakably cruel to Alvaro, telling him that he lacks talent and that, with dripping irony, he is glad he is attracted to Alex since he was beginning to think he was gay. Water symbolism runs throughout the film – Kraken, who is named after a mythological sea monster, rescues turtles from poachers and removes their shell to discover their sex. Alex has an aquarium filled with hermaphroditic clownfish and a collection of dolls with attached penises attached. None of this symbolism, however, adds much to a story that is told with subtlety and great sensitivity.

Winner of the Critics Week Grand Circle Award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, XXY features an extraordinary performance by Inés Efron who manages to build empathy for her character while making Alex a symbol of all adolescents' search for acceptance. Director Lucia Puenzo has said that after reading the short story by Bizzio that she "couldn't get it out of her head". A film of haunting beauty and compassion that says that every human being deserves to be loved for who they are regardless of gender, physical deformity, or sexual orientation, it will also be hard to get out of your head.

First there was Sofia Coppola, who made her directorial debut with the all but safe Virgin Suicides. Now Lucìa Puenzo, another in-bred filmmaker (her father is one of Argentina's most famous directors), has chosen an even more uncomfortable subject for her first steps behind the camera, and the result is a beautiful, bold and oddly touching picture.

Much of the movie's power derives from the astounding central performance by Inés Efron, who plays the troubled Alex, a 15-year old girl living in a village by the sea in Uruguay. It was her father, marine biologist Kraken (Ricardo Darìn) who decided to move there from Buenos Aires, and for a good reason: his daughter suffers from a rare and frankly embarrassing medical condition, the nature of which is hinted at in the title. It has already caused her to break her best friend's nose, and more problems will come as the family receives an unexpected visit from a surgeon and his young son Alvaro, with whom Alex embarks on an awkward relationship.

XXY tackles a delicate issue with great care, allowing both sides to speak their mind (although the movie isn't really about taking sides) and addressing the problem without trivializing it. Most surprisingly, it doesn't get as explicit as other films with similar themes (Boys Don't Cry comes to mind), except for the wonderfully shocking climax (in every sense) of one of Alex's encounters with Alvaro. It's a scene of unexpected poignancy, especially considering the contrast between the brutality of that moment and Alex's visible vulnerability. Therein lies the movie's core: it is not a traditional teen story, nor is it a conventional issue picture; at its center we have a person who is seemingly unable to accept herself, as well as her complex bonds with other people.

It is those connections that the director analyzes with startling precision in the second half, with particular attention to the way the two kids relate with their fathers (close-ups are very important here, as the devastated looks on the great actors' faces act as a counterbalance to the seductive landscape). And there lies the biggest shock: Alex and Kraken, despite the difficulties they're going through, manage to get closer, while Alvaro's apparently perfect life is shattered in a brief, bleak lesson of cynicism from his old man. As a matter of fact, that might be too much: that scene is just a little too cold, too cruel to really feel at home in the picture. However, the rest of XXY holds up in an almost perfect way, with its strong story, affecting cast and an open ending which, despite being frustrating at first, makes perfect sense: this kind of story cannot really end.

Hermaphrodites or intersexuals,as they are called today - imho a slightly pejorative expression - are a rare theme in contemporary art; I can only think of Euginides book "Middlesex". The more it is surprising,that "XXY" comes from Argentine, a country not especially prominent in modern gender discourses. But Luisa Puenza impresses in her first feature film with a sensibility and open-mindedness,which will last in the memory for a long time.Puberty is always a difficult state between two identities: Not longer a child and not yet an adult.For the main protagonist Alex that problem doubles,because for her there is also the question of her future sexual identity.Society demands a clear decision.Like the language,which cannot find an expression for his/her existence - the adults alternately speak of "her" or "him" -, so the medicine aims at subjecting everyone to its sexual bipolarity. With witty dialogs and panache the film proclaims the right of being different and of searching one's own sexual niche. But luckily it's far from being dogmatic or didactic.It also understands the position of the parents to give their child a kind of shelter and save it from the confrontation with society.What the film openly criticizes are the operations, or should I better say amputations shortly after birth. The acting is generally fine, especially by Efron("Glue") and Darin.The missing star is the result of little flaws: In some places it too symbolically conceived: It takes place at the coast,which combines land and water; the father working as a marine biologist for sea turtles,whose sex cannot be defined from outside.Such clear hints wouldn't have been necessary. Luckily in our modern advanced society it is for an individual easier possible to define its own "normality" and fight for it, though it will be a lifelong fight.The film shows that in a way encouraging the viewers.

I bought this movie through the Amazon Marketplace based on the high rating and many positive reviews. And now having seen the movie, I sit with a somewhat disappointing feeling. The movie wasn't bad or anything, but it wasn't as amazing as people apparently made it out to be.

The story was good and interesting, but the story wasn't given all the time needed to fully utilize every potential it had. It felt like running out of time really cut the movie short at a much too early moment.

It should be said that "XXY" is actually a movie experience that should be seen, because it has a beautiful storyline. But more so, it was brought to the screen by a group of very talented actors and actresses, and had a skilled director pulling the strings.

I am rating "XXY" a mere five out of ten stars, because it didn't live up to what the reviews and ratings had made it up to be. Sure it was a beautiful movie in many ways, but it was a real shame that it didn't see all of its potential, because it could have been so much more.

I actually think this is one of the better inter-sex movies out there, even though I think it stalls somewhat on its own content. But what really irks me are reading reviews with verbiage like;patient, abnormality, defect, diagnoses and the like. This isn't about a 'medical disorder', but very possible another gender that defies traditional male/female definitions. Since there's always been sexual reassignment surgery with these people, many at birth, who's to say if left alone they wouldn't morph into happy, adjusted individuals that just form another non-traditional gender? I think if you watch this movie through non-traditional eyes, you will most likely get more from it. Alex makes the plea at one point;"Why do I have to be cut at all?" Yes indeed, why? Inter-sex people have been around since the beginning of the human race. The medical community traditionally has made these people lab rats, why don't we set them free?

It is a very deep story, hard to see, but it turns out to be sentimental.

I will not get into any comments on the movie despite the medical facts. I think other people can do and have done this better than me. I just want to say I loved this movie and for who is interested here are some facts why the story is fictional:

Alex seems to have both genders. She seems to have both - a vagina and a penis - and the doctors already noticed that before she was born. That is referred to as real hermaphroditism, but it is actually not a part of Klinefelter's syndrome, which is a so-called "pseudo-hermaphroditism". All children with an extra X chromosome in addition to XY (so 47,XXY-children) are BOYS. The Sex-determing Region of Y is making them develop to boys. So they won't have nor a vagina nor a uterus and until puberty they are usually not even diagnosed.

Boys with Klinefelter's Syndrome usually consult a doctor because of insufficient growth of the testes in puberty. Some get gynecomastia (breast development in boys) and stay with a high voice. The penis and hair usually develop normal.

So as long as they don't have a genetic abnormality on their Y-chromosome they won't be real hermaphrodites, which is a really rare condition anyway and comes along with the normal Karyotypes 46,XX or 46,XY in most cases.

Anyway it is a great movie! Enjoy!

GOOD INTERESTING STORY THAT IS FUN AND PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW = 1 Star

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE = 1/2 Star

FEEL A PULL TO WATCH IT AGAIN = 1 Star

MUSIC OR SCORE STANDS OUT = 1/2 Star

NO NOTICEABLE PLOT HOLES = 1/2 Star

STORY GETS RESOLVED OR FEELS COMPLETE IN SOME WAY = 1/2 Star

I PERSONALLY LIKE OR FEEL A CONNECTION TO THIS STORY = 1 Star

MEMORABLE OR LIKABLE CHARACTERS = 1/2 Star

MOST THINGS ABOUT THE STORY COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN OR ARE BELIEVABLE = 1 Star

STORY ISN'T BORING OR REPETITIVE = 1/2 Star



This is a really emotional experience shown from the point of view of a young confused intersexed teen. The story flows greatly with the support of her parents trying to shield him/her from the cruel and harsh world. I think this story is told in a great way with great actors. Don't let its "taboo" themes stop you from watching this emotional piece of art.

The chromosomal abnormality of XXY has been labeled as Klinefelter's Syndrome, hermaphroditism, and Intersex. The 'conception' defect results in a child with both male and female organs and when detected at birth usually results in a decision between physicians and parents to surgically alter the child to be one or the other phenotypic assignments - male or female. In this remarkably sensitive film based on a short story 'Cinismo' by Sergio Bizzio and adapted for the screen by writer/director Lucía Puenzo, XXY becomes a story of understanding and acceptance of a diagnosis by both child and parents and the conflicts such gender variation can present.

Alex (Inés Efron) is the XXY patient of the story, having been raised on the isolated coastline of Uruguay as a girl with the aid of supplemental hormones until age 15, the age when her loving Argentinean parents Kraken (Ricardo Darín) and Suli (Valeria Bertuccelli) have decided she should have her 'offending member' removed, allowing her to become a completely phenotypic female. Alex is deeply conflicted about her situation, refuses to take her medications and enjoys being 'one of the boys' in secret. When Alex's parents invite their surgeon friend Ramiro (Germán Palacios) and his wife Erika (Carolina Pelleritti) to their home to advise them on the surgical alternatives, they are accompanied by their artistic son Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky). There is an attraction between Alex and Alvaro and this ultimately results in a crisis that results in the coming of age and self-acceptance of both youngsters. Lucía Puenzo and her fine cast sensitively explore the interaction between parents and children and the coming to grips with choice of identity. This is yet another challenging and rewarding film from Argentina, one that stands alone as a fine movie, but one that also would be wise to add to the film libraries of high school and college students and of patient resource facilities who deal with problems of gender identity. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

As everybody knows, adolescence is a roller coaster ride for the seven odd years from 12 to 19 (and sometimes even longer). Add the premise of being a 15 year old Hermaphrodite,and things can get even scarier. This is the story of a 15 year old Argentine girl,living on the Argentine coastline. A visit from another couple,with their 15 year old son makes this for an unusual,but sensitively played drama that in the hands of another director would/could be easily turned into crass exploitation. Granted,there is sexual experimentation aplenty,but this is handled with taste (don't expect a John Waters-esquire treatment here---not like in Pink Flamingo's,anyway). This is a well written,directed,filmed & acted out drama about mature subject matter. No rating here (it wasn't submitted for an rating from the M.P.A.A.),but contains some very mature subject matter,including a rather uncomfortable sexual harassment scene).

I have seen many films, mostly documentaries, dealing with the intersex subject and this is by far the best treatment of the subject I have yet to see. Yes, it is slow, especially for amerikan sensibilities that expect everything to be fast and are therefore lacking in nutrition. This film was complicated, textured and went far beyond any form of politically correct treatment. I especially loved the character of the father. There was suffering but it was tempered with joy and humour, rather than tell the tragic story of the hermaphroditic 'victim' or 'freak'. Most intersex people are not allowed to choose what happens to their own bodies and those that are have to withstand severe societal pressure to conform to the either/or nature of the beast and define themselves as male or female. Alex made the choice to be both seem logical and obviously s/He was not going to lack for friends and lovers. A rare achievement and a template for further treatments of the subject.

The world as we have come to know it has not changed in thousands of years. That which was seen as strange, bizarre and unusual in past eras, has come to be known as simply different, but nothing science cannot correct. In the modern world, medical wonders have become common place. Unfortunately, that goes for Freaks as well. Such strange and unusual people are still far from the 'Norm'. They are still vilified in such a way, that most people want to have themselves 'altered' to fit in so as not to frighten children or cause controversy. This film " XXY "is about a ' Hermaphrodite ' called Alex (Ines Efron) a fifteen year old girl who has decided not be surgically corrected into either a male or female. Her parents are deeply troubled with her decision as are her few friends. Her closest friend is a teenage boy named Alvaro (Martin Piroyansky) the son of a surgeon and his wife who have joined Alex's parents on a retreat to the beach. There, it is hoped, Alex will chose a gender which best suits her. Despite the fact that Alex feels drawn to Alvaro, she also is troubled as to why she feels it's wrong. The entire film is dedicated to her struggles. It's confrontational setting brings out the curious in neighborhood boys and girls and causes Alex to wonder if she would be better off dead. The film is very slow to develop, slower still to present a particular direction and hampered by juvenile editing and a static script. The ocean scenery fluctuate's like the constant change of setting and furtive characters with no real fixed direction. It does however create a modem amount of sympathy for the main character, who remains as elusive in her decision as her dark aspirations. A good film for an undemanding audience who desires what the main character wants, resolution. ****

Maybe I'm becoming LESS emotional in my old age, but I couldn't sympathize - much less empathize - with the characters in this film in the least. As another reviewer here said, the film lacks energy, and that lack of movement leaves the viewer with ample time to ponder why they are watching this exercise in mediocrity. I watched the whole film, but I can't really say it was worth my time.