Anne+

Anne+ is a follow-up film to a web series. Both film and series are very much queer content made by and for queer people. I don’t think this film has much that would interest a heterosexual audience. Anne+ has a strong focus on representation. That’s not going to be everybody’s bag. But I’m a queer person, and I assume much of my audience is too. So, I don’t have that problem. I really admire the film’s focus on broad, queer representation. There are gays, bisexuals and non-binary characters in the film. Anne+ really puts the + in LGBTQ+.

Leading the film’s group of queer 20-somethings is Anne. Anne begins the film with a stable plan for her future. She has a steady girlfriend named Sara, a book deal and plans to join Sara in Montreal in a few months. Of course, it can’t stay this way. First, Anne runs out of material for her semi-autobiographical book. Anne and Sara have an open relationship. While Anne claims she’s fine, when Sara starts dating someone in Montreal, Anne struggles. Partially to feel more equal in this relationship, Anne begins seeing Lou, a non-binary dreamboat. Anne’s habit of procrastination also stops her from taking the steps needed to move to Montreal. It also causes her to struggle to tell Sara that maybe she doesn’t even want to move to Montreal.

Anne+ makes Amsterdam look like an absolute queer utopia. I am curious if this was an intentional choice or just the writer reflecting her reality in the country. Anne and all her queer friends encounter minimal to no queerphobia. They have community, culture and support. The freedom Anne and her friends have to be their authentic selves is wonderful to see. There’s also good representation of many real-looking bodies with imperfections that are absolutely celebrated. The film is notable for being one of the best (and only) depictions of a non-binary person I’ve seen. The representation works because while its characters are all shades of queer, that’s not their entire identities. The characters have actual personalities and stuff. On a social and personal level, queerness in Anne+ is gloriously normalized. It’s very inspiring to see.

Admittedly, there sometimes is more focus than necessary on aspects of queer culture. There are discussions on things like drag, the definition of the word queer and evolving language and pronouns. Some of these discussions do feel a bit LGBTQ+ 101. This feels out of place in a film that is so relentlessly queer. I think the film should assume a bit more queer knowledge of its audience. Because like I said, this movie isn’t for heterosexual people. During one long discussion, Anne defines the term queer as being “fun and exciting.” For all that I like the film, Anne+ is a queer movie that doesn’t meet the definition of “fun and exciting.” Especially not in the scenes which are pretty uninspired queer history and theory.

Moving from a web series to a film is a major change in medium. Everything needs to be bigger in a film. Anne+ didn’t quite get there. It’s good that this is a streaming service film. Anne+ is very much a film best experienced from your couch at home. Seeing this theatrically seems unnecessary. By the film’s own admission through Anne’s writing, the film struggles with conflict. It’s a very loose narrative of Anne just living her life and getting in her own way. There are moments when the pacing very much proves that the story began life as a much shorter length serial. On the plus side, the film works having not seen the original series. I haven’t seen it and that didn’t stop me from enjoying the film or understanding the characters.

Anne+ sold me on its existence with its lengthy third act break-up scene. This scene in particular feels really well thought out and pulls no punches. A lot of effort feels like it went into this one scene and it is a great one. It feels real, messy and emotional. It’s two people who did and do love each other but are at a breaking point. It’s a great show of how having different future plans can tank a relationship and how being vulnerable with a partner runs the risk of them throwing that in your face in a negative moment. The break-up scene gives the film more structure and a proper ending. It basically meandered to get to this scene. But once we got there, the film found its way and justified its existence.

Part of the break-up that I like is that Anne is not free from blame. In general, the film is good about calling its protagonist out on her bullshit. I’ve seen lots of films featuring flawed protagonists who don’t grow or have their flaws acknowledged. Anne+ is pretty good at acknowledging when Anne sucks and needs to apologize. While I admire this, because she has the most screen time, Anne has the most flaws. I did spend a lot of the film wondering why one of her cooler-seeming queer friends couldn’t have been the lead. Part of that’s also down to my distaste for the character archetype Anne occupies. I’ve already seen enough artists with relationship problems that inspire their work in fiction. Even when you add the secret ingredient of queerness, I’m still not a huge fan of that sort of character plot.

Unironically, Anne+ is the future liberals want. There’s very, very few films with as much or as varied LGBT+ representation as Anne+ has. The film’s focus about representation works because it offers character and humanity to its queer subjects. Because much of the film is about spotlighting and celebrating queerness, the film’s plot can be a little weak. But because these characters felt like either friends I have or friends I want, I’ll allow it.

Overall rating: 6.3/10

Other WLW films in similar genres