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Sin ✊🏿4.0

Love has never been more complicated and messy!There's a lot to admire and relish about Strella. It's raw, moving, and emotionally intricate. There's also plenty to it, as this authenticity-rich film explores queer love, existing while trans, fractured family ties, mortality, shame, abuse, and queer found family dynamics, all while following the everyday trials and tribulations of a Greek trans sex worker (Strella).For the first half of this film, I couldn't stop smiling thanks to its beauty and warmth, despite the precarious and somewhat unpretty circumstances our queer characters navigate. There's one intimate scene in particular (the backdrop image is taken from this scene✨️) that was simply entrancing due to a display of tender sensuality and romantic vulnerability……And then a world-shattering twist occurs about halfway through that blindsided me and left me slack-jawed and caused me to hit pause for a few minutes to gather myself after the revelation. 🤯🫨🫢But wait - the twist somehow grows more thorny and knotty when an added layer to said revelation is soon discovered that fundamentally recontextualizes (and warps 🌚) pivotal moments that came before in ways that's both audaciously brilliant and brilliantly fucked up. 😵💀Still, after that bombshell, Strella finds a way to put much of the now marred, rearranged pieces back together amidst fallout and turmoil to miraculously deliver a mainly sweet, queer-affirming ending. But goddamn, that journey!(Pro-tip: If you're interested in watching this, go in blind - it's super easy to be spoiled!)🌏Why I Love International Cinema🌍

Pavlos4.5

You don't stumble upon complex greek queer melodramas very often, but when you do, it's everything you've ever wished for.The concept of family is never simple when it comes to queer stories but the way Strella (both the woman and the movie) tries to create her own family with its own values and morals is one that exceeds society and disbelief. The only thing that matters is love, acceptance and Christmas lights.

🌻 lindsay 🌻3.0

This is so hard to rate for me because there was so much that I absolutely loved but then some plot points that I equally hated. But no matter how I was feeling, it was always really strong and passionate. I’m obsessed with this movie visually and I fell in love with so many of the characters but especially Strella. I love her... soo much. And Mina Orfanou is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen and she is so so talented. I just wish that some of the choices the story took hadn’t made me so uncomfortable but honestly I loved this even despite that? I don’t know. This movie is really complicated and my feelings toward it are hard to pin down but I think I just loved so much about it that I’m left feel positive towards it overall.