Told with ingenuity, compassion and an impressive fearlessness, Australian drama 52 Tuesdays observes a year in the life of Billie (gamine Tilda Cobham-Hervey) a teenage girl who spends every Tuesday afternoon and evening with Jane (Del Herbert-Jane), the parent who gave birth to her but is now transitioning into a man named James. Although Billie is a fairly broadminded millennial who barely blinks when she gets mum’s big news, processing the change isn’t as easy as it seems for everyone involved. Billie enters into a secret threesome with two other school mates while James’ body reacts adversely to testosterone and he can’t bring himself to open up to Billie about his new girlfriend.
The use of video diaries and the expository speeches are painfully on the nose at times, and dramatically spins a bit out of control by the end, while some of the acting is patchy. Still, one can’t but fail to be impressed with the film’s commitment to investigate its issues with subtlety and frankness.
