Feńa (Lio Mehiel) is a trans man living in New York City.
Having made a life for himself, he is determined to connect with his old life on his own terms.
However when he runs into his former boyfriend John (Cole Doman), and his younger sister, Zoë (MiMi Ryder), shows up, Feńa finds himself pulled toward the problems of his past…
A small, intimate story of life in transition, Mutt’s strength lies in its specificity.
There is a nuance to the characters, their relationships and contradictions, that means that the film never turns into a simplistic parable about prejudice. There are two explicit examples of transphobia - a drunk woman asks about Feńa’s body; a bank teller refuses to cash his paycheck because it is under his deadname.
While bigotry is a constant tension, it feeds into other overlapping fault-lines for this character. Ultimately, the strength of this movie is that Feńa never comes across as an idea.
He is a person and the film takes an empathetic approach to showing him in all his contradictions - his resilience also cuts him off; his care for the people around him can be undermined by his desire to recreate relationships he has lost.
Taking place over three days, the film plays like a suspense thriller - we meet Feńa at the point where he is, intentionally or otherwise, bridging the gaps between his old life, and the new one he has made for himself:
When the movie opens, he is trying to prepare for his father’s (Alejandro Goic) visit, with a tense phone call outside a bar. Shortly thereafter, Feńa runs into his ex-boyfriend (Doman), and his new world is tipped into chaos. A one-night stand later, the former lovers are trying to reckon with/ignore their past mistakes, and present circumstances.
And then his sister shows up, and Feńa finds himself continuing the process of re-introducing himself to figures from his past.
Despite its verbosity, the film leaves space to fill in Feńa’s background. Its story is too complicated and messily human to be limited by literal depiction (we get no flashbacks).
It is in this regard that Lio Mehiel’s power really comes to the fore. This is a story told in sad, longing glances, and Mehiel’s gaze says more than words can.
The film recognises that honouring its lead character and his experience requires specificity, not some broad attempt to highlight transphobia.
As the countdown to his father’s visit draws closer, Feńa finds himself crowded in by more complications - after the one night stand with his ex, Feńa needs the Plan B pill; he needs a car; he needs to find a way to get his sister home.
Underlying all of these obstacles is Feńa’s deep yearning to bind the strands of his life together, and his struggle to realise that what is past is past, and it is impossible to bring it all back.
A beautiful little film, Mutt is one of my favourite films of the year.
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