We meet Saitan, an aging trans female who is just on vacation absorbing everything. She stops in a small town and soon she is flirting with a younger guy who is himself totally enamored by her beauty and charm knowing very well that she is older and trans. IN another story, a young boy's father catches his son dressed in his dead mother's clothes and dancing. He packs him off to go as a monk to a Buddhist temple. The kid is at first apprehensive, but when he sees a handsome young monk step out of the temple, something in him stirs, and the boy goes willingly. And then the third story shows us a young man returning to Thailand from abroad to oversee closure of his dead father's bar, which he only later realizes is a trans cabaret bar. She is tough straight guy hell bent to close the bar. He momentarily falls in love with one of the most beautiful lady boys he has seen and has sex but somehow can't get over the fact she is not fully a girl. At the temple, the young boy has a "but for the grace of God" encounter with a weeping, heartbroken ladyboy, which I guess is a signal for a change about to happen. As the stories intertwine, We later find out how the stories are interconnected. The young monk eventually married , had a kid but couldn't let go off the female in his body. His wife finds out and moves away. The boy gets a surgery and becomes a trans female, opens a cabaret bar. Years later, she goes to the small town to visit her aging father and gets killed in an accident. This is when the son comes into the picture to claim the cabaret trans bar.
The film is definitely a sympathetic portrayal of transsexual characters, who in most movies are demeaning cardboard stereotypes used for comic relief. I am very sure that the film doesn't directly address a lot of issue s that the trans community probably has to face, but I would still say that there are only a handful of films that handle themes like this with the seriousness and dignity they deserve. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this film, but I was quite surprised with a simple yet very very effective storytelling. The way all these three stories eventually connect was amazing and you see how homophobia or transphobia evolves over the years. A good scene is when the lady is with her younger boyfriend for a picnic and he admits that of course he knows who she is and he genuinely likes her, not just a physical pleasure. A gentle simple scene yet effective, in my opinion. There are similar such scene sin monastery the the young boy is trying to deal with his insecurities. The most relatable is in present time, when the supposedly straight boy falls for the most beautiful girl, but somehow can't get over the fact that she is not really a girl. The performances by all members on the film are top notch and deserve acclaim. I think most of them probably are real life trans people. It Gets Better is a little Thai film that tells the world that the trans-gender lives are not easy even in a country with an open minded attitude to sex. (6.5/10)
Comments