''Mutt'' is a 2023 drama film directed, written and produced by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz in his feature directorial debut. The film had its world premiere at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

on January 23, 2023 where actor Lío Mehiel won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Acting.

Premise

In one day, Feña, a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

, rekindles his relationships with his foreign father, his straight ex-boyfriend and his estranged younger half-sister after having lost touch with them since his

gender transitioning Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True ...

Cast

*Lío Mehiel as Feña, a trans man in his 20s *

Cole Doman ''Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'' is a 2015 drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone. Plot Henry Gamble is a closeted teenager and active member of a church youth group. He and his friend Gabe masturbate together while discussing a girl w ...

as John, Feña's straight ex-boyfriend *MiMi Ryder as Zoe, Feña's estranged younger half-sister * Alejandro Goic as Pablo, Feña's father *Sarah Herrman as Jenny, a young woman Feña meets in a night club who's also John's cousin *

Jari Jones Jari Jones (born 1991) is an American trans Femme activist, performance artist and creative. Jones was a cast member, script consultant, acting coach, and producer of '' Port Authority''. Career Jones was the first black trans woman producer ...

as Fiona, Feña's roommate *Jasai Chase Owens as Aidan, Feña's friend *Ben Groh as Mark, Feña's friend

Production

During the Deadline Studio panel at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, Lungulov-Klotz revealed that he wrote the script of ''Mutt'' six years prior and recalled the experience as "trying to place all of his fears in the film". The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began at the start of fall 2022.

Release

''Mutt'' had its world premiere at the

, on January 23, 2023. At the premiere, the film screened with open captions after jury walkout due to a captioning malfunction three days prior. The film had its international premiere during the Generation 14plus program at the

73rd Berlin International Film Festival The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival has added a new award for best te ...

and won Special Mention award. In April 2023, Strand Releasing acquired distribution rights to the film.

Reception

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. Leslie Felperin of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' deemed ''Mutt'' as "one of the best films about post- transition adjustment".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=22777288 2023 directorial debut films 2023 drama films 2023 films Films about gender Films about trans men Films set in New York City Slice of life films 2023 LGBT-related films American drama films American LGBT-related films 2020s American films