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XXY
Film Movement

XXY reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 67 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.8 out of 10
based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ines Efron, Martin Piroyanski, Ricardo Darín, Valeria Bertuccelli, and Carolina Pelleritti

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15-year-old Alex, who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son, Alvaro (Martin Piroyanski). Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity and forces both families to face their worst fears. (Film Movement)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Sergio Bizzio (short story "Cinismo")
Lucia Puenzo
 
DIRECTED BY: Lucia Puenzo  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: May 2, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 86 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Argentina / France / Spain 
LANGUAGE(S): Spanish 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand
As finely crafted as a great work of literature.
Read Full Review
88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The shots are beautifully composed, the editing paces the process of self-discovery, the dialogue is spare and heartfelt, the performances are deeply human -- especially by Efron.
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83
Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The word "hermaphrodite" is never actually uttered, for instance, and the whole topic is revealed obliquely, mostly through the puzzled eyes of Alvaro. Most impressively, a tale that could have been handled with condescending simplicity becomes a testament to the flawed but noble humanity of both parents and children.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post V.A. Musetto
Ines Efron and Martin Piroyanski give strong performances as Alex and Alvaro, respectively. Debuting director Lucia Puenzo, who co-scripted, tackles a dicey subject with sensitivity and taste.
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75
TV Guide Ken Fox
Efron's remarkable performance as a wild child who seems to truly exist somewhere betwixt and between is riveting.
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75
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The acting is uniformly strong, the visual approach self-effacingly honest.
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70
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Moody and thoughtful.
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70
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
XXY is, in the best possible sense of the word, an awkward film.
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70
The New York Times Stephen Holden
If XXY is imagistically too programmatic (a scene of carrots being sliced is typical of its Freudian heavy-handedness) and devoid of humor, it never seems pruriently exploitative. It sustains an unsettling mood of ambiguity that lingers long after the final credits.
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70
The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis
The story of a young hermaphrodite who's not sure if she's emotionally a boy or a girl manages to be both raw-edged and moving.
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70
Variety Jonathan Holland
Picture has more in common with standard child-parent conflict dramas than it would probably care to admit, but its sensitive treatment of an equally sensitive theme elevates it into something memorable.
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63
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The grown-ups in Lucia Puenzo's XXY are a glum lot.
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50
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It's set at a beach house, but we see only gray skies, and though Efron has a wary and cutting intelligence (it matches that of the fine actor Ricardo Darin, who plays her father), the effect is tepid and damp.
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50
Village Voice Nick Pinkerton
It takes a controlling hand to chisel something more contoured than monotony out of this dense angst, and director Lucía Puenzo doesn't have it, though Inés Efron, as Alex, gives a committed centerpiece performance with a nice, slightly lupine grin.
Read Full Review
30
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
The genitally ambiguous as well as transsexuals and gay people deserve more than XXY's good intentions.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steve gave it a7:
Affecting and thoughtful drama with an outstanding lead performance.

Jahne W. gave it a7:
This is a pretty good movie. I liked the directors chioce of using cool colours because that added to the mood of the movie. It had a very sad and depressing mood to it. Also, I do not speak spanish and I still enjoyed watching this and it caught my attention. For me to be interested in a movie I can't understand the diolouge to is a plus.

bruce s gave it a5:
This is not a very good movie...of course not it's what can i say.....it's grotesque or really strong for me sorry.

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