Anything’s Possible Movie Review: Billy Porter’s High School Romance Is A Gen-Z Inspired Love Story With An Underwhelming Second Half (LatestLY Exclusive)

Anything’s Possible Movie Review: With representation being a huge deal in today’s changing world-view of media, it’s great to see that more minority crowds are being noticed. With Anything’s Possible, it’s fun to see a romance between a boy and a trans girl at the forefront. It handles the love story at the center of it with much care, but there is still something that holds it back. The Gray Man Movie Review: Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans Land Clumsy Blows in Russo Bros’ Ordinary Spy Thriller; Dhanush’s Cameo Makes Very Late Impact (LatestLY Exclusive).

Directed by Billy Porter who makes his directorial debut over here, Anything’s Possible follows Kelsa (Eva Reign), a trans girl, and Khal (Abubakr Ali), as their romance starts blooming in the final year of school. With Khal building up the courage to ask out Kelsa, there is a bit of conflict within him as he worries about the way that the society might react to their relationship.

A fairly straightforward and relevant plot that is given even more flair with some gen-z inspired elements. The story of Kelsa and Khal is what drives this movie forward. Meeting in an art class where they are tasked with painting a portrait of each other, the chemistry between Abubakr Ali and Eva Reign is extremely palpable. With them starting off as friends to eventually dating, there is a certain charm to it, and that’s further bolstered by Anything’s Possible’s relevant take on modern dating and how the characters spend time with themselves.

Kelsa likes to make content on YouTube and talk about her experience with transitioning. Talking about how the hormones work and how she wants her dating life to be, there is a nice sense of innocence and inspiration in her. Having a supportive mom and friends, it’s just topped off with how carefully trans representation is handled here. Eva plays Kelsa perfectly, and it’s great to see how she presents herself.

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However, Abubakr Ali stands out as Khal. For me at least, he felt like the heart of the film. With him being great at arts and wanting to follow his studies in that trajectory, he spends a lot of the movie trying to convince his parents to let him follow his dream. If you have ever studied arts, you have gone through this phase. It’s a small thing, but one that helps add layers to his character. Using his free time giving out and seeking advice on r/relationships on Reddit, there is a certain sense of relatability to him.

But while that innocence is what keeps the first act very much intact, the second act is unfortunately marred by confrontations that rather feel forced than naturally developed. Trying to hit on some real-world problems, Anything’s Possible tries to bring forward its social commentary in a rather overbearing way.

With transphobia and a basic lack of knowledge about trans culture in general being touched upon, Anything’s Possible felt like it was more concerned with ticking off a checklist than actually telling a story in its second half. With conversations like trans girls not being allowed in women’s bathrooms to rampant homophobia and people being pretentious to earn the "woke points,” everything is mentioned.

The last thirty minutes are basically that as the love story takes a back seat. It feels so incredibly forced to the point that the actual conversations surrounding those aren’t addressed properly. Rather, everything just gets fixed up in the most convenient way possible and we are left with an ending that’s just not as hard hitting as you would want it to be. Don’t Make Me Go Movie Review: John Cho and Mia Isaac’s Road-Trip Film Features An Endearing Start, But A Highly Polarising Ending (LatestLY Exclusive). 

Thankfully, Anything’s Possible still does have enough of a teen romance charm to it where the things don’t get to the point of being incredibly dull.

Yay!

Chemistry Between Eva Reign and Abubakr Ali

Great Trans Representation

Nay!

Second Act Feels Rushed

Main Conflict At the End Feels Forced

Final Thoughts

Anything’s Possible features a great first half and an unfortunate second half that doesn’t know what it wants to be. Where it could have provided for its main discourse in a more natural way, Anything’s Possible executes those conversations in a manner where it doesn’t feel earned. Conflict just for the sake of conflict doesn’t make for a good viewing, thankfully the chemistry of it leads can still keep the movie floating. Anything’s Possible is streaming right now on Amazon Prime Video.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 22, 2022 10:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).