Even as I write this review, the existence of the transgender community is being used as a political weapon. Can they play sports, can they use the bathroom, can they really even exist on a fundamental level? All we hear is that people supposedly care about two things, the economy and immigration. Yet, Trans fear is so real, that you just have to stoke that fire a little, even though in no way would this be considered a “kitchen table” topic. And yet, this is where we live now.
So for a trans centric documentary to drop on VOD just before the election is a bold statement. And allowing myself to review this is also making a bold statement, because finding films like this is truly a gem. Now, being a blind film critic, I did my due diligence to at least ask if an audio description track was available, which it was not. They aren’t especially hard to produce, or expensive, but I’m not really sure of the budgetary limitations here, or if the distributor is aware of the existence of accessibility. It does affect how I view a movie.
Our Dad Danielle tells the story of a trans rights activist (Danielle), and how she came to be in the field, which is a long and winding journey. It reminds me of the recent Will and Harper documentary, about a transition later in life, and those films notably share the same choice to continue to be called Dad even after transitioning, and changing your pronouns.
We hear about Danielle’s struggles from a very early age, to when she met her wife, and they brought their daughters into the world. Danielle, or DJ as she is frequently referred, is very clear that mentally she was at a point where she didn’t see a future for herself if she didn’t transition. The documentary deals with how her job as a patent lawyer either was or was not affected, various health challenges, writing a book that got turned into a movie (hold on that for later), and how Danielle got into helping trans migrants seek asylum.
It feels like a very new director is behind it. there’s almost too much time given to Danielle’s life and peripheral backstory, when the movie leans into reminding us that she’s a leading trans advocate now. I definitely wanted to see more of that and less of the contextual life story. I think it’s about the balance, like if you went to see RBG, and right before the movie ends, they spent about ten minutes talking about her career as a Supreme Court Justice. the thing is, I feel like I know DJ quite well, but the trans rights part seemed really focused on this one Honduran migrant (who I couldn’t understand without audio description, as I can’t read the subtitles, and I have not finished my Spanish course on DuoLingo). I think showing how many lives DJ has touched would make more sense. It also felt like, he has two kids, but one seems to be participating.
As a gay blind film critic, when DJ was talking about how she would never choose this, I was thinking about how we could have opened up on how and why she would feel that way. it isn’t that what she’s going through is a bad thing, but society has standards, and they are the ones who dictate what is cool, what isn’t, and society lets you know if there’s something wrong with you. Another documentary I saw recently, Patrice: The Movie, features a disabled lead who mentions that she had no idea she was disabled until she went to school and the kids made fun of her. So, if DJ had grown up in a different environment, I wonder if she’d be dealing with that same level of shame.
Now, what I did find tremendously interesting, and it sent me down the rabbit hole, is that before DJ has fully and openly transitioned, she wrote a book, and then a screenplay for Leaves OF The Tree. This is featured in the documentary, with mentions of how Eric Roberts and Sean Young starred. Now, I of course take this film criticism thing seriously, so I felt like I must watch this film, as a companion piece. So, I also have seen Leaves of The Tree, which sadly also has no audio description, but is available on Tubi.
Yes, the concept of a film starring those two made me giggle. Roberts plays a man in a health crisis who travels with his wife (Young) to a place where there might be some ancient healing properties. It wasn’t as cheesy or bad as I thought it would be, given the cast. However, there’s a significant amount of Italian, which made this technically an unwatchable side project.
But for Our Dad Danielle, I would say I just wanted more. I was excited to learn about trans activism, and instead this is really laser focused seemingly on the whole life. Also, “Our Dad” in the title, works better when the kids are prominently featured or even directing.
But, I liked this, and I liked DJ. I think her story is relatable, and I love that she got me to watch a movie starring Eric Roberts and Sean Young that wasn’t bad. Our Dad Danielle is available now on VOD, and every time someone watches it, I hear JK Rowling has a migraine.
Final Grade: B+