Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Sundance Award winner Mutt couldn’t arrive at a better time. With all of the hurtful legislation being passed arount the country impacting the LGBTQ community and specifically trans people, movies that tell trans stories are more important than ever. It doesn’t hurt that the film also features a stunning lead performance by star Lío Mehiel who won the acting award in Park City, the first trans actor ever to do so.
Mehiel stars as Feña, a trans man living his life in New York City and dealing with the reemergence of three important relationships from across various stages of his transition.
Lungulov-Klots directed and co-wrote the screenplay, earning praise for its honesty and humanistic qualities. Our review by Cortland praised the film, as well, calling it “simple, emotional, and heartbreaking.”
Here’s the synopsis: Feña, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that resurrects ghosts from his past. Laundromats, subway turnstiles, and airport transfers are the hectic background to this emotional drama that overlaps past, present, and future. Settling the disharmony of transitional upheaval in relationships familial, romantic, and platonic is Feña’s task at hand, and his resulting juggling act is equal parts skillful, fumbling, and honest. In negotiating his obliqueness, the poignant moments he finds between himself and others – as the distance between them closes – are warm, true, and touching.
Mutt opens in theaters on August 18th.
