Tangerine

Covering a day in the lives of two trans sex workers, Tangerine is an offbeat surprise that's hilarious, heartwarming & heartbreaking, is bursting with energy & style from start to finish, and offers an unusual glimpse into Los Angeles' sex-trade subculture. As unconventional in content as it is in the way it's shot, this is one comedy that defies everything in its path.

The story of Tangerine unfolds on Christmas Eve and follows two trans sex workers who are also best friends. One of them is Alexandra who's inviting friends all over the town to attend the gig she has secured for the night. The other is Sin-Dee Rella who just tears through the town to find her pimp boyfriend after learning that he cheated on her while she was locked up.

Written & directed by Sean S. Baker, Tangerine is crafted with rigour & passion and shatters many filmmaking norms over the course of its runtime. Filmed entirely on iPhone with more enhancements coming from easily available apps, the film gleams with colour filters & warm palette that gives it a distinctive look. And although the first act requires some getting used to, it only gets funnier as the plot progresses.

While the primary focus is on Sin-Dee & Alexandra, the subplots related to other characters connected to these two are also interesting in their own ways. The film also breaks tradition in the casting department by employing two transgender actresses in the given roles & both of them deliver fantastic performances, with Mya Taylor playing her character in a balanced manner while Kitana Kiki Rodrigues going full crazy as Sin-Dee.

On an overall scale, Tangerine is an inventive, distinctive & hysterical piece of indie cinema that allows its audience to settle down in the first act after which it instantly changes gears, gets more wild & vibrant with every passing minute, goes absolutely bonkers in its final act when all its different threads combine together to form a single whole, and finally concludes with a touching ode to friendship. In a sentence, Tangerine works because its heart is at the right place. Definitely worth a shot.

This was just a complete free for all! I didn't know about this film until watching The Florida Project. This was moving in just the same way. I liked these people and I disliked these people. I was fully invested. Point being, I cared about them as PEOPLE. I saw Starlet as well a while ago, but it didn't grab me like this and Florida. More, please.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's hard to imagine a better choice for opening night of the 4th annual Oak Cliff Film Festival. After all, this year's theme is the "No Wave Movement" of the late 1970's, and writer/director Sean Baker's most recent film (and a Sundance favorite) is the perfect complement. Co-written with Chris Bergoch and filmed entirely on iPhone 5s' (with cinematic apps), this gritty, no-frills film spotlights real problems of real people on a real day … on the real streets of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Personally, I haven't seen many (ok, any) films that focus on two transgender prostitutes (both, persons of color). However, the exciting thing is that the story pays little attention to the vocation of Sin-Dee and Alexandra, and is more a story of friendship, heartbreak, and the sub-cultures that make up a particular community of the L.A. area. This is not the glitzy/celebrity side of Hollywood, but rather the underbelly of a melting pot city where the paths of transgender streetwalkers and Armenian cab drivers intersect.

Sin-Dee (Kiki Kitana Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor) are opposite personality types, but clearly good friends as they chat while splitting a donut in the opening scene. We quickly learn that Sin-Dee is fresh out of jail after serving 28 days, and she doesn't react well to Alexandra's news that their pimp (and Sin-Dee's boyfriend) Chester (James Ransone) has been cheating with a "natural" woman (played by a very talented Mickey O'Hagan) while she was incarcerated. A woman scorned provides the energy of the film as Sin-Dee tracks down this mysterious girl whose name starts with a "D". It also provides new meaning for dragging someone all over town (kudos to Ms O'Hagan for the physicality and bruises).

The sassy banter is filled with brutal put-downs and smart-ass comebacks, as the three actresses play off each other as if loaded with short-fused fireworks. The story with taxi driver Razmik (Karren Karagulian) shows a family man drawn like a magnet to the world of Sin-Dee and Alexandra … he even finds a reason to skip out on Christmas Eve dinner with his family. His mother-in-law Ashken (Alla Tumanian) is most suspicious of his activities, and that leads to the frenetic and hilarious confrontation at Donut Time.

Many individual scenes are funny, while others are tension-filled. There is even a scene in Razmik's cab featuring veteran actor Clu Gulager ("The Virginian"), and Armenian celebrity Arsen Grigoryan plays another taxi driver. The acting throughout is strong and humanistic, and the iPhone photography is shocking in its depth and range … we would never suspect the "equipment" being used. This approach allowed for the organic feel of the street – think of Banksy making a movie … clandestine with no sets (or permits). Baker's style is reminiscent of John Waters and John Cassavetes, and that's quite a compliment. The film also features the pitch perfect description of Los Angeles: "a beautifully wrapped lie".

Really liked 2012's 'Starlet', so 2015's 'Tangerine' was definitely going to be seen. Just in case anybody is wondering what my incentive was for seeing the films, it's for getting acquainted with director Sean Baker's work before seeing his recently released film 'The Florida Project'.

Found myself liking 'Tangerine' even more. A few parts are still a little forced and written and resolved somewhat too neatly, but there is not much to criticise a film that is a little texturally richer and more intimate in detail than to 'Starlet'. Like with 'Starlet', the faults are fairly minor and are eclipsed by everything else that is done right. 'Tangerine' is most interesting for its unique visual style and using real life transgenders for actors, but despite how this sounds this is not a gimmick film and has much more to it than that.

Visually, it won't appeal to all, some may find it amateurish. With me though, the shot entirely on three iPhones look was surprisingly naturalistic and added a high-voltage intensity and realism to a story that is often confrontational in manner. The music has some nice atmosphere too.

Like with 'Starlet', 'Tangerine' really stands out in the writing, with a great balance of funny comedy, charming warmth, understated sweetness and touching drama. The story likewise, it really made me feel warm inside, it made me laugh, it surprised me, it charmed me and it moved me. There is some explicitness and some vulgarity, but it felt raw and any shock drama just added another layer to the drama. The Christmas fairy-tale feel that is at times adopted is not sugary, if anything it's got a lot of attitude which was surprising in a good way.

Once again, Baker's direction is adroit and he paces everything beautifully. Would go as far to say that his direction is even better and more comfortable here than it is in 'Starlet', it's richer, more intimate and more detailed.

'Tangerine's' acting is not quite as good as 'Starlet's', but it is still surprisingly very good. Especially from Mya Taylor who fully succeeds in making her character come over as a real-life person with strengths and flaws rather than a caricature or stereotype.

Altogether, a very good film, very different to 'Starlet' but has many of what made that film as impressive as it was. 8/10 Bethany Cox

My friend put me on to this, with no mention at all of what it was about... so totally unexpected. What I really liked about Tangerine is that it didn't pull its punches. None of the main characters are 100% hero or villain... everyone is sad/funny/cruel/kind at some point. I can't say I'd want to hang out with ANYONE in this movie... but they're all presented as complex characters, people, which is great.

I can see why John Waters liked it, it does remind me a bit of his earlier films with their various crazed characters in crazed worlds... though Tangerine feels much more real and gritty than any of those Waters films, which were heavy with fantasy.

Anyway, it's excellent... I hope it garners a huge following and we start getting more films like this and less superhero trash.