Anything's Possible

Directed by Tony and Emmy award-winning singer and actor Billy Porter and featuring an attractive and able cast, Anything's Possible is engaging and smart. If a metaphor can be teased from the theme, it's that we're all in transition in one way or another, some from one gender to another, some from a role assigned by peers or by parents to a role we choose for ourselves in life. With high school and coming-of-age as the launching pad, the teens here are all starting to make scary decisions that will affect their entire lives, just as trans kids do when they decide to take measures to help them feel right in their bodies. Most refreshing here is that these high school students aren't all stereotypes, but unusually thoughtful people. Rather than insisting that we're all the same, this movie emphasizes the fact that some people are exceptional and suggests that they shouldn't have to pay a price for it.

For brief moments the script tries a bit too hard. Kelsa is an aspiring zoologist, and her asides about the parallels she observes between human and animal behavior aren't as relevant as the movie wants them to be. And when someone says, "Names are what make us unique," it sounds good for about half a second, but the pronouncement breaks down under the least bit of scrutiny. Aren't a whole lot of people named Alex?