Drew Burnett Gregory is back at Sundance bringing daily updates on the best of LGBTQ+ cinema and beyond. Follow along for more coverage or read her review of Sauna below.
It’s technically true that I cannot think of another feature film about a cis gay man grappling with his feelings about dating a trans man for the first time. So why does Mathias Broe’s Sauna feel so dated and predictable? Is it because it follows similar beats to work about cis men dating trans women? Is it because there have been TV shows and movies that have portrayed this dynamic from the perspective of the trans guy? Or is it just because I’m trans with a lot of trans friends and I’m tired enough watching this play out in real life without seeing it on-screen?
When we meet Johan (Magnus Juhl Andersen), he’s living a traditional gay life. He works at a sauna, he drinks and does drugs and has Grindr hookups, and he’s out to his mom but not to his dad. But something is missing for Johan — he’s craving intimacy. Enter William (Nina Rask), a hookup who Johan is immediately smitten with even though he didn’t read his bio closely enough to realize William is trans.
Putting aside the comical suggestion that a cis gay guy would have to accidentally fall for a trans guy instead of, you know, seeking it out, their burgeoning relationship allows for the expected education for Johan and the audience. William hasn’t had top surgery yet, William isn’t allowed at Johan’s sauna, William can’t secure regular access to hormones. It’s unclear why Johan likes William except that they’re both traditionally hot guys. We’re supposed to see William as a deeper connection than Johan’s other hook ups, but the only intimacy they share beyond fucking is discussing The Trans Experience.
I don’t know what it’s like to be trans in Denmark. But considering its reputation as one of the most trans-inclusive countries in the world, I have to imagine the experience of someone like William would not be fraught enough that medical transition had to be the topic of every conversation. Would an adult man who has been living full-time for at least a year if not longer and already had top surgery really not be able to get testosterone? Again, no clue, never been to Denmark. But either the movie is contrived to focus on the challenges of medical transition or it just feels contrived and that’s not much better. At one point, during a fight Johan says, “All you care about are your fucking hormones.” A wild thing for a cis person to say to their trans partner, but it also feels like inventing a guy to be mad at. All this movie cares about are William’s fucking hormones.
Eventually, Johan leaves behind his cis gay male community to join William’s gender-diverse queer world. (Is William a baby trans or a seasoned queer with a big group of trans friends? Whatever serves Johan’s story at any given moment!) Johan feels like an outsider and like he’s not accepted by this new group. This again feels like a cis fantasy. Traditionally attractive cis people are not ostracized in trans spaces — they’re desired by trans people like they’re desired by the rest of the world. Sure, there are some alt spaces where Johan would be less welcome, but there’s no specificity to William’s world to suggest that’s the case. All we get are a few unique haircuts.
What begins as a fine — albeit basic — trans story from a cis perspective grows more and more puzzling as its plot progresses. The script doesn’t just fail in its portrayal of the trans experience, it also fails to give these characters any sort of interesting or grounded motivation for their behaviors. I’m not criticizing a good movie because of how it tells a trans story. I’m criticizing a mediocre movie because a trans story that may seem fresh to some is all it has to offer.
Toward the end of the film, Johan is at a club asking William’s friend for details about the process of securing trans healthcare. “I just want to party,” the friend replies. That’s how I felt the entire movie. Johan is going on a journey, but that journey doesn’t really have anything to do with me, William, or the actual lived experience of trans people. I’m tired of watching movies like this. I just want to party.
Sauna is now streaming on the Sundance online platform.
