Vibrant, fiercely unique, compassionate, fresh and hilarious and all shot on the iPhone 5. This beautifully shot feature from Sean Baker is one of those films that leaves you feeling that you've spent every second of the last 88 minutes watching something truly special.
It's Christmas eve in an area of Los Angeles that is not usually focused on in cinema and two transgender prostitutes Sin-Dee and Alexandra are catching up, Sin-Dee finds out her beloved boyfriend, Chester has been cheating on her and so the quest to find Chester and the girl he's been doing the dirty work with begins.Separate to this story, the film follows Armenian taxi driver, Razmik and his day to day life picking up passengers - one crudely vomits in his cab, another takes shameless selfies - the audience soon learns Razmik is no stranger to the transgender community despite having a wife and extended family.
The quick witted editing teamed up with the addictive soundtrack in this feature hooks the audience instantly. This is certainly not a film to be limited to the LGBT community. There are plenty of laughs in this film and the two central characters are extremely lovable in their own unique ways.
Even in the most chaotic scenes, particularly the sequence towards the end of the film in DONUT TIME cafe, insults are being thrown around the room yet Baker seems to be scratching at the surface at something very important. The film is revealing the day to day struggles of minorities in Tinseltown in a light-hearted and unapologetic way.
Even when the Tangerine appears to be going nowhere, we believe in it - every character, every shot / close up is incredibly engaging. Magnolia Pictures managed to get their paws on this feisty gem so it should get a UK cinema release soon - check out the trailer below:
