cinehunch
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
01
Why this pick
Like Boys Don't Cry, it is a grounded, compassionate true-story drama about a trans teen seeking love and belonging amid escalating hostility, told with an intimate focus on the people around her.
02
Why this pick
Its restrained indie realism, young protagonist’s search for self-determination, and quietly devastating treatment of institutional prejudice echo the emotional intimacy and unsensationalized pain of Boys Don't Cry.
03
Why this pick
A raw, performance-led true-crime drama that finds tenderness and damaged longing inside a life pushed to society’s margins, with the same unvarnished emotional force.
04
Why this pick
Its close, observational camera work and patient attention to a young woman navigating an unforgiving world create a similarly tense, empathetic portrait of vulnerability and resilience.
05
Why this pick
This social-realist coming-of-age drama shares Boys Don't Cry’s rough-edged working-class setting, immediate naturalistic performances, and deep concern for a young person reaching for dignity and escape.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) is a young trans man whose birth name was Teena Renae Brandon. When Brandon is discovered to be transgender by a former girlfriend's brother, he receives death threats. Soon after, he is involved in a street fighting and is evicted from his cousin's trailer. Brandon moves to Falls City, Nebraska, where he befriends ex-convicts John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom Nissen (Brendan Sexton III), and their friends Candace (Lecy Goranson) and Lana Tisdel (Chloë Sevigny). Brandon becomes romantically involved with Lana, who is initially unaware of his troubled past. The two make plans to move to Memphis, Tennessee, where Brandon will manage Lana's karaoke singing career. Eventually, during a date night which ends with them having sex, Lana discovers that Brandon is trans, but continues to be intimate with him.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
Brandon Teena
Lana M. Tisdel
John Lotter
Marvin "Tom" Nissen
Brian
Lonny
Nicole
Judge
