Parents' Guide to Fanfic

Based on a Polish novel by Natalia Osinska, this teen drama starts out heavy, with a scene showing a trans teen, with many scars on his arm from cutting, vomiting in the school bathroom toilet. But quickly, Fanfic slips into a nicer, cleaner, and more melodramatic young adult story. While the acting is strong, from both the leads and the supporting cast, the film struggles to find a real foundation, if not also a heart, amidst main character Tosiek's figuring out why he's so "angry at the world." Both fortunately and unfortunately, however, a fair amount of this film still feels the need to educate its potential audience. Fortunately, because in some ways it's great that films like this exist and are made with care, love, and good intentions, but also unfortunately because hopefully at some point films like this can be made without the need to take time teaching people how not to be ignorant, presumptive, or insulting.

Further, while there are moments of self-abuse, trans and gay hate, and cyberbullying and bullying behavior, the film, for some, will too easily resolve Tosiek's trans and gay identity by having peers who rally around him as if their ignorance and former behavior were fixed overnight (like in main villain Maks). And yet, still, this movie might possibly help some trans youth feel seen, as well as parents, friends, or significant others who want to educate themselves on noncisgen trans identities, queerness, and LGBTQ+ issues. Despite the film's feeling of responsibility toward educating the uneducated, the good is that the love story between Tosiek and Leon is sweet and not without its tumultuousness, which provides some much-needed "will they, won't they" drama.