Hijra in Between (2018)

This Movie Left Me with More Questions than Answers

So I originally watched this for Greg because I loveddd him in Someday or One Day, and wanted to see some of his other works!! This def sounded like an interesting story and I thought the cute romance in the beginning was uber adorable and thoroughly enjoyable, however by the end of the movie I felt like I was left with more questions than answers....This was such a missed opportunity to really delve into the world of someone who is classified as a "hermaphrodite." And disclaimer: I will be using their english names used in the English subtitles!! And beware of possible huge spoilers!

As someone who had never heard of this word and has little to no knowledge of what a hermaphrodite is, I think it would have been beneficial if this movie went into a little more detail at least on Wendy's journey.....I felt like that was such an important part of the movie; her "changing" genders yet they completely skipped that whole process where I feel like we cant even feel as connected with her because she just disappears and then reappears....theres no backstory or reflection of what she went through during those years to get to how she is now?? Firstly...what kind of accident did Wendy and her friend have that caused them to be in the hospital?? Cause they were suddenly in the bathroom and then bam they are in the hospital where she finds out she's a hermaphrodite that has damaged her uterus & ovaries. The only thing they showed from the "accident" was a 5 second clip that I cant even remember what happened because it was so quick and basically useless to even show at that point.
Second, did she have to become a male because she had to take out her female parts?? Im just wondering if there was really no option to just stay as a female even without them...she just wouldn't be able to reproduce no?? or is it cause without those female parts "she's no longer classified as female" Im genuinely curious because I really don't know about these things...which if they went more in depth on this process maybe Id have a better understanding! Again, Im not expecting the director/screenwriter to go step by step on everything but they should have treated this as if their audience knows nothing about this topic and executed it in a way thats easily understood by the general public (but maybe its just me who doesn't understand)

Im glad that Tim/Wendy had her best friend and Shaun in her life because they really were pillars for her. The way Shaun unconditionally still loved her no matter what was soo beautiful and endearing. I kinda wish we were able to see more of his adjustment to the gender change of his first love because from the movie perspective...it just took a day...and in reality Im sure it takes way longer than that....sooo that part seemed unrealistic. The ending felt somewhat kinda rushed...idk, I definitely see why so many people are confused with that ending...because even with my interpretation, Im unsure but the way I saw it was that she was asking to be blessed in this life by God. She is still the same "person & soul" as she was; just outwardly she may look and seem different but that she still wants to be accepted fully. And believes that love can help her be reborn and accept herself in this "new gender."

All in all, considering the time restraint they had in telling this story in movie format, its not terrible...just not the best way they could've executed this story, because I really do think this storyline has a lot of potential to be a really good one with a lot of great lessons wrapped inside. It seems like this would've been better as a short drama series (few episodes) to really delve into the story and details!!

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I have written and rewritten this review countless times. It's not so much that I have mixed opinions about the story, but rather that they are quite hard to articulate. Ultimately, this is a story of Wan Ting/Ting Liu experiencing first love and gender dysmorphia. It seeks to provide insight into the ways that the MC's transition influences their perception of themselves, and their ability to feel a sense of belonging again amongst their friends and in the face of romance and intimacy.

I say "they" because it is made ABUNDENTLY clear that Wan Ting did not want to physically transition and has a hard time accepting the reality of it. But, at this particular segment of their story, we can't be sure if it's mere dysmorphia because of being back amongst people they interacted with while identifying as a female, or if they still internally feel as such (although, I personally lean towards the latter based on their behaviors).

I loved how the MC is not faced with bullying because of them being intersex (the bullying tag is quite unrelated, as well as brief/mild). I loved the friendship between all of the leads, especially after the MC's return. It's so supportive, even in the face of their own troubles and their own difficulty in seeing the MC's transition. And the moments when reality hit for each of them during various moments were really poignant. I could feel my heart drop.

I know some people are upset with the ending. But personally I saw it coming from a mile away. And while it did leave us with unanswered questions that I would love to have answered - that wasn't the focus of this story. This film is solely about the MC coming to terms with being intersex, having to transition, and finding their new place amongst those who have never left their heart. Everything that comes after that is a whole other story. I'm happy with how it ended - even if I do see it as unnecessary. Who knows, perhaps they were hoping to spur enough interest to expand on this idea either as a sequel of another adaptation.

The part that I particularly dislike is the beginning. There were so many components to the beginning part of the story that had no point and with little to no follow-through. Furthermore, I really disliked the MC's best friend for quite a bit. It set a really negative tone to the character - that was inconsistent with her character throughout the rest of the film. I was so close to dropping in the beginning. If they had only kept the parts that were relevant and consistent with the rest of the film, they could have had several minutes to either explore MC's actual transition/treatment period or (as others advocated) add to the ending more.

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