The Garden Left Behind
In The Garden Left Behind, director Flavio Alves crafts a stunningly touching and striking drama that chronicles the enthralling, emotional life of a transgender woman of colour, Tina (Carlie Guevara). Alves's film follows the young woman on the cusp of her hormonal transition and her interaction with family, friends, lovers and herself in determining if her transition is the best thing for her future in a world that is full of hate and spite.
Alves never shies away from the psychological and physical damage of hatred found in the current society against the trans community. The film takes some incredibly dark and upsetting avenues but not because it is some form of dreary entertainment value that feels hollow — because of the realistic and haunting reflection of a part of society threatened and murdered on a daily basis with no avail and consequence. Produced in conjunction with both GLAAD and Trans Filmmakers Project, to name a few, this is no exploitative venture, with a profoundly affectionate and firm ground that this house is built upon.
There is a parallel story that takes place, following the powerful emotions of fear and hope from two sides of a struggling coin. The fear side of this story is one left for the film to deliver in its own devastatingly daunting impact and words. Alluded to but never explicitly stated, this arc hits in a harsh gut-punch of undeniable sadness that covers the uneducated and tortured soul of the people who chose an enemy out of difference, jealousy or even repressed lust. However, as stated above, this is not a sentiment that is ever too far away from surrounding the Trans community. Injustice leads to massive amounts of undocumented or ignored violence on a growing scale.
That being said, The Garden Left Behind is not a story that is defined from the hatred of others. It is tremendously balanced with a significantly elegant tone that never shies away from the gravitas of this story and honours the humanity in it. There is hope and faith here that takes place in the story of Tina, played authentically and superbly in a debut performance from actress Carlie Guevara. Granted, the performance is slightly rough around the edges but as, stated above, for a debut performance in a feature film it is one with weight, layers and emotional intensity that crafts an engaging lead performance with an honest plight.
Coupled with a strong supporting cast from the likes of Ed Asner, Michael Madsen and the debut performance of Anthony Abdo and intimate and engaging cinematography by Koshi Kiyokawa — with splendid and incredible usage of lighting — this is a feature with heart and bravado that does tremendous justice to the story of Tina and others like her: people who are underrepresented in mainstream media but now know that their journey does not have to be travelled alone.
