As a young trans woman named Ren (Carmen Madonia) anxiously slips into a rest stop bathroom, our shoulders hike with fear for her; but Ren is only nervous because she has taken up vaping again and is trying to hide it from her overbearing mother. It’s easy to see why Something You Said Last Night has been called ‘subversive’ and ‘revolutionary’ for depicting a trans character in quiet, everyday situations without dwelling on her identity. But it would be a disservice to only highlight what this film doesn’t have.

In a painfully intimate film so full of Ren’s character that she threatens to walk off the screen, out of the cinema, and over to Gay Spar for a new vape cartridge, De Filippis has created a minutely observed version of the 2020s coming-of-age film. Following Ren, her headstrong younger sister and her chipper Italian parents on a family vacation, Luis De Filippis’ feature debut is rife with the quotidian tensions that make and break our relationships every day. A twenty-something artist tries to make the transition to adulthood while fearing life outside the family nest. An absent brother looms over birthday celebrations. Petty arguments turn into shouting matches. Playful teasing leads to a smashed phone. Little apologies bring declarations of unconditional love.

PRE-FEATURE SHORT

GLITTERBUG
Tania Notaro
14 mins, Ireland, 2023

Set in 1990s Dublin, two young female DJs with dreams of making it big in London are grounded from fantasy to reality when one of them is diagnosed with HIV.

IFI Age Recommendation: 15+

This feature and short are screening as part of GAZE 2023.