“It’s hard to wake up”– the most powerful message of this movie. Tomboy follows a girl in search of her true herself. Laure (played by Zoé Héran), a 10-year-old girl, moves to a new town over the summer and tries to pass off as a boy, by the name of Mickael. While trying to understand her own sex (and sexuality), she befriends a group of boys from the neighborhood and a girl, Lisa. We see Laure intently observe the behavior of her new male friends before mimicking their behavior, just to fit in with the boys… as a boy. With the pressure of summer ending and school beginning, Mickael feels the pressure of facing his biological reality, Laure. Through the course of the movie we observe via Laure, her parents, her adorable younger sister and the process of waking up and facing the reality.
It’s never easy when it comes to the question of gender and sexuality, however Sciamma portrays a realistic perspective on how each person confronts it. But at the end of the day, no matter straight, gay, bisexual, or transgender, when one is faced with the reality of themselves, is it truly easy to wake up?
