Strictly for the Birds

Strictly for the Birds has a distinctly amateur, low budget look and feel to it. The sort of feel that for almost any narrative, would be the main focus of my review. But Strictly for the Birds is based on a true story. And what a story it is! This is a movie about an older trans woman and the older cis woman who effortlessly falls in love with her. Any concerns about camera angles and acting come secondary to that story for me. This is such a charming, feel-good movie and a narrative I haven’t seen before.

Strictly for the Birds is almost a documentary. The main characters are all played by their real-counterparts. And we get voiceover from our lead, Kate about the events of the film and even the making of said film. Kate transitioned later in life, after the death of her alcoholic spouse. Older as she is, Kate accepts that another romance probably isn’t in the cards for her. She’s content to finally live as her true self and maybe make some friends. One friend she makes is Zoey, who invites Kate to some sort of old lady choir performance. One of the singers is Andrea, who Kate is immediately drawn to. The feeling is mutual. Kate and Andrea move towards a romance, despite Andrea never having felt attraction to women before. Throughout the film, there are also flashbacks to Kate as a child experiencing dysphoria and of her unhappy marriage.

These flashbacks are the film at its weakest. The lower budget and quality does stand out more when it’s heavily dramatic scenes of alcoholism. The flashback scenes to Kate as a dysphoric child also don’t offer much new in terms of representation of that topic. And they never quite evoke the confusion, discomfort and depression that Kate clearly felt during her early years. Strictly for the Birds would have done better to focus on the present. If for no other reason than because when movies have older protagonists, it is unusual to look at their present and future.

But Kate’s present and future is where the joy and the hope are. Her romance with Andrea is such a gentle, gloriously ordinary thing. I really applaud the filmmakers and real people for correctly identifying that this small, personal romance is worthy of a movie. Because it absolutely is. Kate and Andrea’s romance deserves a three-hour, multi-million dollar epic. It’s a shame that we don’t live in a world where that was ever going to happen. This is one of the other reasons I am going pretty easy on the film’s technical flaws and lack of budget.

Everybody in the movie shows such kindness to Kate. And that is inspirational and feel-good to see. Andrea is generally good about bringing up the topic of Kate’s gender and transition, even during the early, unsure days of their relationship. The absolute best moment in the film comes from Zoey, though. When Andrea calls Zoey, crying and confused about falling in love with a woman. Zoey responds “oh, baloney,” to the concept of gender being a reason why Andrea shouldn’t love someone. That’s the vibe I want to bring into 2025 and the future. We should all say “oh, baloney” to the concept of gender and celebrate the mere opportunity of love.

I often complain about how I’ve seen variations on the same WLW movie before. This is not the case with Strictly for the Birds. It is unusual to see senior people be the lead in film. It is rare to see senior queer people. And it’s nearly unheard of to see a movie with a senior, trans protagonist. And the movie is happy and feel-good? Strictly for the Birds is one of a kind. I would trade at least a dozen technically more competent and higher budget sapphic coming of age movies for another film like Strictly for the Birds. Sure, the script could’ve used another draft and the acting isn’t gonna win anyone an Oscar. But this is such a heartwarming, wonderfully ordinary romance that shows queer and trans joy at any age.

Overall rating: 5.9/10

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