Something Must Break

A Swedish Generation Y movie about transgenderism and loneliness, also known as Something Must Break. Saga Becker is phenomenal in this small gem that's been permeated with melancholy. At the same time the film feels incredibly liberating because it talks about gender and the freedom to be who you are without restrictive cisgenderism and heteronormativity. Maybe that's just it: this liberty, which is not at all won at this moment in history, is still something bleak and isolated. Because of that there's a certain kind of sadness surrounding the personal struggle fought by trans people. Sebastian / Ellie is such a person who identifies her/himself not as gay or straight, not as male or female, not as transsexual, but as something that isn't called by name in the movie, something "queer" you might say. While his/her search for an own identity manifests itself, Something Must Break manages to bring up some (other) big issues of our time (in the Western World): solitude, unemployment, depression, the search for meaning in this life, etc. A beautiful yet heavy-hearted movie with a nice soundtrack by Tami Tamaki and Olof Dreijer (The Knife). Recommended!