‘Anything’s Possible’ (2022) is a delightfully modern Gen Z coming-of-age movie that follows Kelsa, a confident high school girl who is trans, as she navigates through senior year.
Story
Kelsa is a black trans girl who is navigating through life, love, career and most importantly, high school. She has reached a point where she is confident and comfortable with her identity and shares her journey on her youtube channel, but she is often hurt when others struggle to understand this.
She meets Khal, and they instantly feel a connection. They spend more time and develop a crush on each other. The problem occurs when Kelsa gets to know that her friend, Em, also likes Khal, and misunderstandings arise.
After a lot of drama, Kelsa and Khal decide to get together. However, sometime later Kelsa and Em get into a fight in the women’s washroom and Em uses this to get revenge on Kelsa and gets her banned from the women’s washroom. Gender again defines Kelsa’s life.
Kelsa shares her experience on her channel. Her video blows up and many people come to her support. In time, these issues get resolved and Kelsa’s life gets back on track.
She gets into her dream college in California and Khal also decides to go to a college in Pittsburgh. After a lot of hurdles, this is the final draw in their relationship. Eventually, they decide to part ways and live their own lives while acknowledging what they felt for each other was real.
Performances
The movie revolves around Kelsa and her experiences, played by Eva Reign. She did a good job of portraying Kelsa. Her character however had some contradictory aspects.
At one point she wanted to share her story but at the same time did not want the attention it brought on. Reign’s portrayal was adequate but more could have been done to leave an impact.
Reign shared good chemistry with Khal, played by Abubakr Ali. He wonderfully played Khal and portrayed all the nuances that a young adult boy goes through with ease. They were successful to show the first love jitters, the shyness and a relatable cute teen romance.
Even though she had less screentime, Kelsa’s mom played by Renée Elise Goldsberry did leave an impact. It felt authentic.
Other supporting roles in ‘Anything’s Possible’ like Em played by Courtnee Carter felt substandard. It could be because of how her character was written poorly with many cliches.
Positives
The inclusivity in the movie is the most important plus factor. Not many movies focus central attention on a black trans girl in the correct way but director Billy Porter did a good job.
‘Anything’s Possible’ did a good job of portraying the cute-mushy crush and first love situation. It felt genuine and sweet.
The pacing was apt. It was a little over 90 minutes which was enough to tell the story and did not feel stretched out or cut short.
Another different aspect was how social media was shown in a supportive and positive light. Kelsa was comfortable sharing her story with people on Youtube and the support she got from her online community was good to see. It was shown how social media with all its drawbacks and security issues, can also be used to mobilise people for a good cause or to stand against injustice.
Negatives
Even though the story was written to make an impact, the same effort was not done in writing the characters. Most of them were subpar with no depth. More could have been done with Kelsa’s story but unfortunately, it failed to leave a mark.
The movie, in a world which is increasingly aware, was filled with cliches. Two friends fighting over a boy is overdone. One decided to get revenge because this also felt unnecessary. Friendships were mostly seen in a negative light in the movie.
The supporting cast did not help much. Apart from the two main leads, other characters’ presence felt forced.
Verdict
Even though many things could have gone better, ‘Anything’s Possible’ deserves to be watched at least once because it does a good job of portraying the life and challenges of people from the trans community. The romance is also cute and would not bore you.
The conversations about career and trying something different is also a great element in the movie, especially for teens and young adults, since it is relatable.
If you are looking for a cute rom-com with some social commentary, you will like ‘Anything’s Possible’. However, if you are looking for characters with depth and a strong ensemble, this may be a letdown.
Rating: 3/5
Also Read: Anything’s Possible (2022) ending explained: Do Kelsa and Khal end up together?