With the title of "animation maven" in our little film critics group, I think it's clear I love writing about cartoons. So the last two weeks have been pretty sweet reviewing "The Sea Beast" and "The Deer King." I was almost a little iffy about returning to the rom-com genre this week. But Amazon Prime's "Anything's Possible" came out of left field and won me over in a big way.
When I'm choosing what films I want to review each month, one of the things that grabs my attention pretty quick is if a movie features a queer lead. This was definitely the case when I reviewed "Crush" on Hulu a few months back. So imagine my surprise when I watched the trailer for "Anything's Possible" and saw it featured a trans woman in the lead role.
Director Billy Porter really brought this movie to a mainstream audience with a pair of diverse leads. And Amazon Studios said, "We want that." In a time when a sizable chunk of America has effectively declared war on the very existence of trans folks, writing a movie around a trans character and casting an actual trans woman is vital for visibility. Existence in the face of erasure is an act of defiance, after all.
THE STORY
"Anything's Possible" follows a senior in high school named Kelsa (Eva Reign). The film is set in Pittsburgh and was even partially shot there. Kelsa arrives in art class on the first day of school and winds up paired with a painting partner, Khal (Abubakr Ali). Their assignment? Paint a portrait of each other.
Khal creates a beautiful painting of Kelsa and offers it to her. Kelsa's painting is ... not quite as impressive (but still definitely better than anything I could do with a brush). It's here they begin to crush on each other. There's just a couple issues.
You see, one of Kelsa's best friends already has a crush of her own on Khal. And Khal's best friend is bigoted toward LGBT people. Nevertheless, Khal's brother convinces him to buy Kelsa flowers. But when Khal's best friend keeps asking about the flowers, he panics and says they're for Kelsa's friend instead.
This is overheard by other students, and word gets around to her friend that the flowers are on their way. So when Khal does show up and gives them to Kelsa, it creates quite a stir. Both Kelsa and Khal lose their best friends over their budding romance.
And, from there the story follows a pretty standard pattern for a high school rom-com. The coming-of-age narrative checks the usual boxes, a high school party, an awkward but cute first date, miscommunications that lead to a big fight at the climax, and more.
TRANS REPRESENTATION
"Anything's Possible" doesn't shy away from trans issues, while also not making that the sole point of the film. Topics like losing family, bullying, and changing rooms are central plot points. But Kelsa has a video diary she updates frequently where she discusses things like taking hormones for her transition and the meaning of gender identity in society at large.
It's also refreshing to see that Khal and Kelsa are fleshed out characters with interests and dreams outside of their relationship. Khal and Kelsa share parallels in that their families aren't really sold on their higher education plans. Khal wants to attend a trade school, while his family wants him to go the traditional four-year route. Meanwhile, Kelsa wants to move to New York or Los Angeles where nobody knows her. I think queer folks will find that motivation relatable. But Kelsa's mother (Renee Elise Goldsberry) wants her to stay close so she can better support her.
And speaking of Kelsa's mother, I want to take a second to point out how great it is to see a movie where a gay character has a wildly supportive guardian. Goldsberry does a fantastic job of being the protective and loving mother who wants nothing less than pure happiness and fulfillment for her daughter.
Believe me. A sizable chunk of us queers would give anything for a supportive parent. Some of us even use humor as a defense mechanism to avoid addressing the trauma caused by not having one. Can you even imagine that? I certainly can't.
A CUTE COUPLE
Getting back to our main couple, Kelsa and Khal are charming. Kelsa is lively and spirited. But she's also realistic about her life and the challenges she faces, both from people who claim they want to help her and those seeking to hurt her. She's rightfully protective of her heart, and it's beautiful to see her slowly open up to Khal, who is a bit of a doofus sometimes, but likably so.
I won't spoil the ending, but I will say it got bonus points from me for deviating from the rom-com pattern in a surprising layer of realism. Because, as I've written before about rom-coms, real relationships are messy. Love is tricky, and the stuff we see in movies is just that ... movies.
The primary obstacle working against "Anything's Possible" is sometimes the writing veers off into unbelievable territory. The way everyone in this high school seems to be engaged in observing every second of this relationship is a bit overkill. And while I have no trouble accepting Khal's best friend being hateful toward gay people, some of his lines and actions just feel unnatural. When he loses in a video game, he remarks that it's "so gay." And at one point he even remarks to Khal that he's joined conservative social media app Parler. Which ... c'mon. Ain't no high school kids spending time on Parler.
But these moments don't stick around for long, and before we know it, we're back to the lives of Khal and Kelsa, who I became quite invested in.
This is an important film, primarily because of the central cast. If "Anything's Possible" was a story about two cisgender white folks in high school, it'd admittedly be a by-the-numbers tale.
But because writer Ximena Garcia Lecuona penned a story about a Black trans girl and a boy from a Muslim family falling in love, and the leads were so perfect in their roles, this film transcends the average rom-com and becomes an all-too-important story about the necessity of visibility. And as I've written before, as a white gal, there's limits to life details I'm cognizant of and can write about in my review.
My wife remarked about halfway through "Anything's Possible" that there's a hint of Disney Channel in the vibe of this film. I can't say I disagree with her.
"Anything's Possible" is available today on Amazon Prime Video. Porter has brought forth a film any rom-com fan will enjoy. So throw that popcorn in the microwave, load up your Amazon account and enjoy.