François.e uses comedy to bridge the trans experience gap

François, a aging screenwriter, has his latest TV project rejected for being too heteronormative and lacking diversity. Furious, he cynically checks the "transgender" box on a new funding application—and it gets approved. Now he's stuck pretending to be Françoise, a woman in transition, with no actual knowledge of trans experience.

Desperate to deliver on the mandate, François attends community discussion groups with trans people, hoping to mine their stories for material. When he's outmatched, he partners with Sarah, a real trans writer, and the project finally gains traction. Working as Françoise, François also repairs his fractured relationship with his teenage daughter, who finds in this identity an explanation for his past failures as a father. But living the lie comes with a cost he'll eventually have to pay.

Screenwriters Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay (herself trans) and Jean-François Léger made an audacious bet: use the familiar rhythms of romantic comedy to illuminate trans reality and reach a broad audience. They navigate the risks with care, maintaining a recognizable narrative arc—almost comforting—while evoking systemic violence without preaching. The film explores microaggressions, physical attacks, and the gap between a lived identity and how the world validates (or refuses) it.

Louis Morissette delivers an unexpectedly moving performance as a man reconnecting with his inner woman. Geneviève Schmidt excels as a narcissistic producer, and Pascale Drevillon—cast as Sara—emerges as a revelation, delivering the film's most authentic and touching moments. Director Jean-François Asselin keeps things controlled and punchy. The trio's willingness to laugh at themselves, and even at the trans community's own contradictions, gives the whole thing permission to work.