Delayed Reaction: Tangerine

The Pitch: A trans woman with the help of her friend tracks down her boyfriend who cheated on her while she was in prison.

How I Came Into It: This is the time of year when I start hunting down all the Sundance movies I can find on Netflix in order to add a few more movies to my year end list for my top 10. This is one that I've heard rumblings about for months, especially from repeated recommendations by a friend of mine. I honestly didn't know what to make of it.

Why I Saw It: I don't even know where to begin. What struck me the most is how utterly conventional the story is within this very unconventional world. It's just a movie about hunting down a cheating boyfriend that climaxes in a crazy confrontation. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor are very strong at the center of all this. The soundtrack is full of life, and for what's clearly a low budget production, the use of locations is impressive. This is an energized and funny 90 minutes. Most indie movies end up being downers about #WhitePeopleProblems. This is a refreshing change of pace.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: There's a lot of actors in this who simply aren't very good. Rodriguez and Taylor act circles around people repeatedly, which kills the flow in some scenes.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend