Year: 2008
Runtime: 86 min
Language: Spanish
Director: Lucía Puenzo
On the Uruguayan coast, fifteen-year-old Alex, born intersex, faces a crucial period of self-discovery. A visit from friends from Buenos Aires, including the appealing sixteen-year-old Alvaro, creates a complicated attraction for Alex. As their connection deepens, both families are drawn into a moving examination of identity, acceptance, and the complexities of love and relationships.
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Alex Kraken is a 15-year-old intersex teenager who has lived for years presenting as female and using medications to suppress masculine traits. Recently, she stops taking those medicines without telling her parents, a change that allows masculine features to begin re-emerging. This shift happens as she navigates adolescence, identity, and a sense of self within a community that imposes strict gender expectations.
Alex’s parents, Néstor Kraken and Suli, moved from Argentina to a coastal village in Uruguay to shield her from bullying and discriminatory views. Néstor is a marine biologist who also writes about sexuality and treats wounded animals found by fishermen, while Suli hopes to shelter their daughter from harm. Unbeknownst to Néstor and Alex, Suli invites Argentine friends to visit—a surgeon, his wife, and their teenage son Álvaro—hoping to explore possibilities for sex reassignment surgery and quietly hoping Alex might decide to pursue a female identity more definitively.
The arrival of Álvaro introduces a complex dynamic that tests family loyalties, friendships, and personal boundaries. When Alex asks Álvaro if he would be interested in having sex, he initially refuses, but he later follows her and they share a private moment. The incident is witnessed by Néstor from a doorway, causing a mix of surprise, confusion, and concern. Álvaro leaves shaken, yet later tells Alex that he did not regret what happened. This sequence becomes a catalyst for a broader conversation about gender roles, desire, and how each character experiences their own identity in relation to expectations from family and society.
Across the story, Álvaro’s conservative upbringing—his father’s longing for a “straight” path for his son—clashes with Álvaro’s own curiosity about who he is. Meanwhile, Alex faces frustration with her body and the social constraints that shape how she is perceived. After a moment of guidance from a transgender man whom Néstor recalls reading about, the father begins to see that Alex deserves to make her own choices, and he reconsiders his role as a parent in light of her growing autonomy.
A traumatic incident involving the village’s youths introduces a painful test of safety and stigma. Néstor contemplates reporting it, aware that such a move could expose their family and Alex’s condition to the whole community. Alex, however, asserts her right to live openly and decides not to resume medicines or pursue surgery. Her courageous question—whether there is anything to choose between male or female—frames the film’s central meditation on identity, agency, and the limits of social labels.
Throughout, the film acknowledges the curiosity surrounding Alex’s body, but it foregrounds questions of dignity, belonging, and personal determination. In the final moments, Álvaro and his family prepare to return to Buenos Aires, and a quiet exchange on the beach reveals lingering emotions and unresolved tension between them. As they depart, the Kraken family walks along the boardwalk toward the sea, with Alex leaning into her father’s hand—an enduring, nuanced portrait of family, love, and the uncertain horizon of self-definition.
Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:58
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Slow-paced character studies exploring who we are beyond societal labels.Movies like XXY that explore complex journeys of identity and self-acceptance. If you were moved by the sensitive portrayal of Alex's personal discovery, you'll find similar emotionally heavy dramas here about characters defining themselves on their own terms.
Stories in this thread typically follow a protagonist confronting a core aspect of their identity that conflicts with external expectations. The plot is character-driven, focusing on internal conflict and personal revelation, often culminating in a pivotal moment of self-acceptance or agency.
These films are grouped by their meditative focus on identity formation, their emotionally heavy tone, and their shared mood of contemplation and yearning. They prioritize character depth over fast-paced action, creating a similar reflective viewing experience.
Stories where family love is tested by complex personal truths.If you liked the family dynamics in XXY, this collection features other emotionally heavy dramas where parents and children navigate difficult truths about identity and belonging. These stories explore the complex terrain of unconditional love in the face of societal pressures.
The narrative pattern involves an external event or internal revelation that disrupts a family's equilibrium. The story unfolds from multiple perspectives within the family, exploring their individual struggles and the collective effort to redefine their relationships, often leading to a bittersweet but dignified resolution.
Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on family dynamics under strain, their heavy emotional weight centered on parental love and acceptance, and their consistent bittersweet tone that balances pain with glimmers of hope.
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Track the full timeline of XXY with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.
Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape XXY. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.
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