Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

sidharthgupta-60714 AN ABSOLUTE WASTE OF MY I HOUR AND 30 MINUTES.........................................................................................................

finjanmedia-86436 An absolutely riveting film that shows love for its characters without ever once exploiting them.

Movie_Muse_Reviews Calling "A Fantastic Woman" queer cinema or a trans film would be to completely misread it. In fact, the word "trans" never makes an appearance. Sebastian Lelio, part of the vanguard of modern Chilean cinema, digs so much deeper into his protagonist than her gender. Although Marina's (Daniela Vega) trans identity factors heavily into the film, it is not the focal point of her story, who she is, or the driver of the plot, something modern films with LGBTQ characters have yet to get right - until now."A Fantastic Woman" is instead a film about a woman forced to grieve in isolation because others refuse to accept her. When her lover (Francisco Reyes) dies suddenly, Marina finds herself shut out by his family and put under a microscope by just about everyone. Lelio works diligently with Vega, whom he sort of thrust into the role, to create this portrait of brooding loneliness and communicate the extent to which this loss and its reverberations have shaken Marina's confidence in all facets of her identity.Capturing internal conflict rather than manufacturing external antagonism appears to be Lelio's storytelling preference. He and co-writer Gonzalo Maza do give us some tangible plot and conflict, but "A Fantastic Woman" is mostly the story of Marina's emotions, specifically her grief. The script is extremely light on context, even surrounding Marina and who she is and - more to the viewer's natural curiosity - who she was before the start of the film's timeline. That choice keeps us at a certain distance from Marina, keeping us as objective observers to her circumstances rather than evoking our extreme pity.The average viewer will want desperately for the film to address Marina's gender identity directly; Lelio makes it a point to talk around it, forcing us to come to terms with our own grotesque curiosity. Nothing about Marina's past or, more bluntly, her genitalia, are truly necessary to her human experience of needing to mourn and having no outlet and no one to comfort her.To illustrate Marina's inner conflict and her search for meaning and closure, Lelio plays with brief spurts of fantastical daydreams and haunting visions. They are these tiny digressions that embody familiar emotions and create an intimacy with her character that many filmmakers would use words or dialogue to try and convey. That's what makes Lelio such a promising emerging voice in film, albeit one who might struggle for some time to completely latch on to mainstream tastes."A Fantastic Woman" has a lesson to teach all movie fans about what really matters in good storytelling. What a film seems to be about based on background, context and plot means little; a good storyteller drills into and unearths the universally human ideas and truths that are at the heart of any story worth telling. Lelio illustrates those ideas in this film with great beauty and the utmost sensitivity.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Una Mujer Fantástica" or "A Fantastic Woman" is a collaboration of 4 countries that resulted in this 2017 105-minute film in the Spanish language. Here we have this year's Best Foreign Language Film winner for Chile. It is the second time for the country to be nominated (after No) and the first time it took home the glory. For writer and director Sebastián Lelio it was the second time too that one of his works was submitted and he triumphed this time after Gloria came short half a decade ago. I personally must say I prefer Gloria though, but Lelio seems to have a good touch for female centered movies struggling with lobve from one perspective or the other. But of course, it is not surprising really that liberal Hollywood would really appreciate a film that has a transgender character in almost every scene. Lead actress Dani Vega is also transgender in real life, which added additional spice and bait to the film's awards ambitions. But in all fairness, she did a good job here most of the time and it is also a well-written movie. The young woman has a love relationship with a far older man who dies surprisingly early on after he seemed like the initial protagonist of the film and the rest of the movie is basically Vega's character struggling with getting her fair share of mourning when she is chased away by the dead man's family from the requiem and they made more than clear that they don't want her at the funeral either. In addition, there is struggling about who gets what and most of the focus there is on a canine. The film is packed with examples of discrimination, some more severe and even violently physical, others more subtle. One interesting thing is how everybody perceived the protagonist differently. Some don't see her as a woman at all, but as a chimera while others see her as a woman and this does not only include her lover's family, but also doctors, police officers and her own family. The good news here is that the film really does feel authentic and realistic from start to finish. I never had the impression that I was watching actors play parts. One interesting scene was when she unleashes her anger on top of the car and really becomes the beast to some extent that the people inside the car (2 out of 3 at least) see in her. I also liked the fighter references with these brief punching ball moments somewhat defining the character's inner strength and willpower. There weren't many moment that I did not like. One would be that she actually randomly comes across another guy with the same key which was too big of a coincidence for me and the key scene at the end also I am not sure if I liked it or not. It was somewhat realistic, but also a bit of a letdown given the build-up there with regards to the emptiness eventually. The music and singing element, as beautiful as her voice may be, felt rushed in and pointless most of the time, even if I can see the impact how everybody sees her on stage as an actual woman. Still a nice reference to how art and music may overcome all boundaries. And come on, the natural woman song in the radio may have been a bit too much. Still all in all, the positive outweighs the negative and while I think the Oscar is maybe a bit too much (I sure would have preferred it going to Gloria), I definitely think watching this one is not by any means a waste of time. i give this fantastic woman a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.