Cass juggles jobs as a nanny, restaurant server, and party drug dealer in order to make ends meet and pay for their tiny San Francisco apartment. After a one night stand with Kalli, a co-worker they have a crush on, Cass agrees to watch her 11-year-old daughter, Ari, while she goes out of town. But as days pass without word from Kalli, Cass and Ari form a bond that spirals Cass back to their own difficult childhood and the pain they’ve been running from.
With all of the attention that’s been focused on transgender issues in recent years, the number of films that have focused on this segment of the LGBTQ+ community is still relatively limited when compared to its other counterparts in this cinematic genre. However, one would hope that writer-director Elena Oxman’s debut feature is a step in the right direction for raising awareness and recognition of cinematic offerings in the transgender community, a constituency that has been increasingly looking to distinguish itself in various ways from those in gay, lesbian and bisexual circles. This simple but sensitive release follows the life of Cass (formerly Cassie) Marks (Asia Kate Dillon), a restaurant server and part-time child care provider seeking to make a fresh start in San Francisco after a troubling upbringing in Michigan, one characterized by parental abandonment, questions about gender identity and eventually substance abuse. While working at one of the Bay Area’s upscale eateries, Cass befriends a co-worker, Kalli (Louisa Krause), a single mother who asks Cass to look after her 12-year-old daughter, Ari (Ridley Asha Bateman), when she’s called out of town for a short business trip related to her emerging clothing design company. Cass agrees, expecting the caregiving assignment to last only a few days. But, as time passes and Kalli doesn’t return any of Cass’s numerous voicemail messages, questions arise about whether Ari has effectively been abandoned, a development that troubles Cass, particularly for the memories it evokes about what Cassie’s youth was like. This is far from what Cass was expecting, and it only adds to the list of many issues to be addressed in successfully starting a new life. So what is Cass to do in the wake of this unexpected incident? That’s the key question that drives the narrative as it unfolds. And, in telling this story, the filmmaker capably keeps viewers sufficiently off-balance when it comes to figuring out the direction in which events are headed, essentially placing audiences in the protagonist’s shoes in sorting everything out. This is realized through an engaging script filled with a deftly compiled selection of quandaries, backed by fine performances, a pervasive air of mystery, and gentle, fittingly implemented comic relief. The film also features a cinematic panorama of San Francisco, including views of many seldom-seen areas of the city, and embellished by an atmospheric original score. Admittedly, the pacing could stand to be a little brisker at times, but, if that were to be overdone, it would likely undercut the prevailing sense of uncertainty that the filmmaker was going for in characterizing Cass’s mindset. “Outerlands” represents a decidedly commendable entry in the annals of transgender cinema, as well as an auspicious start to this new director’s feature film repertoire, one that, hopefully, will be reflected in future movie projects for years to come.
