Everything I love about a documentary. The experience of watching Girl Like You, with its observational approach to filmmaking feels as though we are right there with the Elle and Lauren, naturally witnessing their journey through Elle's transition and how it affects them as a couple. Rather than being told how to feel through narration or similar - we see in real time the key milestones of their relationship through home filmed footage, and interviews updating the documentarians on their feelings over the years.
The level of access and openness on the part of the two subjects is so incredibly brave but I think ultimately delivers a valuable story for society. For audiences with previously little understanding of the struggles of transgender people - it sheds light onto how someone like Elle may feel when positioned in our current culture and teaches a profound empathy for them. For people navigating their own identity, the relatability felt by Elle's transition and her relationship to Lauren I'm sure is either validating or revelatory for some.
Girl Like You is also at its heart just a beautiful and bittersweet love story, portraying deep insight of the high and lows of a modern 21st century relationship.
The level of access and openness on the part of the two subjects is so incredibly brave but I think ultimately delivers a valuable story for society. For audiences with previously little understanding of the struggles of transgender people - it sheds light onto how someone like Elle may feel when positioned in our current culture and teaches a profound empathy for them. For people navigating their own identity, the relatability felt by Elle's transition and her relationship to Lauren I'm sure is either validating or revelatory for some.
Girl Like You is also at its heart just a beautiful and bittersweet love story, portraying deep insight of the high and lows of a modern 21st century relationship.