A Revry original, Unconventional is a really well-liked queer dramedy that feels totally different from the usual stuff. The heart of the story is about two pretty eccentric queer siblings and their partners trying to build a family that doesn't follow the traditional rules. It takes a super raw and unfiltered look at queer life, diving deep into things like mental health, addiction, and how complicated identity and relationships can get. It’s not afraid to get messy or show people at their most vulnerable, and it really pushes boundaries while showing a lot of different queer experiences. The first season has nine episodes, and each one is about a half-hour long. The story centers on Noah, a grad student who’s been struggling for years to wrap up his PhD. He’s been with his husband, Dan, for nine years, and they’ve recently gotten married and moved to Palm Springs. While they're trying to figure out how to start a family and have a baby, they decide to shake things up by in...
Mel Daluzyan was, at one time, a national treasure to the people of Armenia when in 2006 he became the first female from the country to win a medal in the World Weightlifting championships. Having been born with higher levels of testosterone than an average woman, Mel had a noted advantage over his competitors. He would continue to see further success until the 2012 Olympics when he was unable to set a total. Mel now has a girlfriend Lili and when the threats become too much in a conservative society, he seeks refuge in Netherlands. As time moves by, Lilit feels the pressure of not only leaving her family and friends, but supporting her boyfriend while the cameras follow her everywhere. When they attend couples therapy, she seems to take it more seriously than Mel. The documentary focuses as much on their relationship as a couple as well. In fact it is mostly about that. In the end we see Mel gets top surgery and after few days of recovery finds courage to start strength training again.
Mel is a love story about a man’s love for his sport and his partner, and the film never settles for an easy solution for either. This documentary doesn't go too deep into what it means being trans, how should they life their life or something else. His trainer and his nation refused to accept it. We see far-right marches for “traditional values”.The difficult decision is made to start a new life in the Netherlands. This is an immigration story, and a sporting story, and partly a love story, though the strains of moving away from your homeland eventually take their toll. As Mel becomes more comfortable in their identity in the Netherlands, his relationship takes on the very different different kinds of traditions of modern masculinity; emotional constipation, women’s agency taking second place to men’s control and ambition. It’s a fascinating dichotomy and Mel’s partner Lilli is in many ways just as interesting a figure, in her roles as therapist, caregiver, and number one fan of a former Armenian hero. I don't know what I was expecting but somehow based on what I had read in the summary of this doc, v/s what I saw, it felt quite underwhelming. The good part if we have seen lots of content on trans women but extremely few on trans men.(4.5/10)
Comments