Victor Polster
Lara
Overview
A promising teenage dancer enrolls at a prestigious ballet school while grappling with her gender dysphoria.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readA Body Learning Its Name
I kept thinking, while watching Girl, that ballet is one of the few art forms that can make discipline look like grace and pain look like poise. Lukas Dhont understands that contradiction better than most filmmakers. He doesn’t approach dance as ornament or escape; he treats it as labor, as repetition, latestnetflix.com contends, as a daily negotiation with gravity and with oneself.
That makes this film feel less like a “prestige drama” than a study in friction: between flesh and form, self-knowledge and the world’s impatience, the private body and the public gaze.
Dhont came into Girl with a background in shorts and a sensibility that already favored bodies under pressure. His debut feature arrived carrying a lot of conversation around it, and not all of that conversation was easy. The film was widely praised for its discipline and for the extraordinary presence of Victor Polster, but it was also debated — sometimes sharply — for the fact that a cisgender actor plays Lara, a transgender girl.
I think that controversy is part of the film’s cultural weather whether one likes it or not, and it changes how the movie is seen. It forces a question that the film itself doesn’t always answer cleanly: can formal sympathy compensate for a casting choice that some viewers experience as a refusal?
I’m not entirely sure there’s a single clean answer, and the movie is more interesting than a verdict would be. Dhont clearly wants to avoid sensationalism. He keeps his camera close, often at shoulder height or lower, as if he’s trying to stay within Lara’s physical field of experience rather than observe her from some approving distance.
The color palette is subdued, the interiors pale and institutional, with the ballet school’s mirrored surfaces turning every corridor into a reminder that self-scrutiny isn’t optional here. The film’s style has the plainness of a severe school portrait, but it’s a plainness that knows exactly what it’s doing. It insists on routine: shoes laced, hair pinned, tape on toes, a body measured and corrected and measured again.
That’s where the movie lands its strongest blows, and not with the big declarations. Early on, there’s a visit to a doctor, and then to a clinic space that is all fluorescent light and administrative calm. Nothing is filmed for shock.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A harrowing, deeply personal drama about identity and ambition that captivates with its intense vulnerability while challenging viewers with an emotionally punishing tone."
Viewers encounter Lukas Dhont's drama as an intimate, somber chronicle of an aspiring ballerina navigating rigorous physical training alongside her gender transition. Audiences frequently highlight the intense emotional and bodily strain conveyed on screen, appreciating the film's deliberate choice to focus on internal psychological turmoil rather than relying on conventional external antagonists. At the same time, the unrelenting discomfort and stark depiction of distress leave some viewers drained, with [latestnetflix.com]( read being that the picture functions as a demanding character study that favors art-house realism over accessible comfort.
What viewers praise
- Intimate character focus The production centers deeply on the internal experience and physical devotion of its lead rather than conventional melodrama.
Common complaints
- Emotionally grueling experience The persistent distress and visceral physical toll can feel overly bleak and exhausting for casual viewers.
Recommended for
Fans of European art-house cinema Viewers looking for serious character-driven dramas Audiences drawn to dance and coming-of-age stories
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe Controversial Rise of Girl (2018): Casting, Backlash, and the Fight for Trans Representation
Lukas Dhont’s Girl (2018) arrived on the festival circuit like a grenade—beautiful, devastating, and impossible to ignore. The Belgian drama, following a trans teen ballerina’s grueling journey toward self-acceptance, wowed audiences at Cannes, where it won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature and the Queer Palm 
. latestnetflix.com's read is that but behind the standing ovations lay a storm of debate: Who gets to tell trans stories?And at what cost?
The Casting That Sparked a Firestorm
Victor Polster, a cisgender male dancer, was cast as Lara, the film’s 15-year-old trans protagonist. The decision, Dhont later explained, was driven by the demands of ballet—Polster’s technical skill was unmatched, and the role required a performer who could execute rigorous dance sequences while embodying the physical and emotional toll of gender dysphoria . But the backlash was swift. Critics argued that casting a cis actor in a trans role—especially one involving nudity and body dysmorphia—was a missed opportunity for authentic representation 
.
Dhont defended his choice, citing years of research and collaboration with trans consultants, including Nora Monsecour, the real-life ballet dancer who inspired Lara’s story . Monsecour herself pushed back against the film’s detractors, calling it a "story of hope" and rejecting claims that it exploited trans trauma . Still, the controversy followed Girl to the Oscars, where it was Belgium’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film, and later to Netflix, where it became a lightning rod for broader debates about on-screen representation .
The Nudity Debate: Art vs. Exploitation
One of the film’s most contentious scenes involves Lara examining her body in a mirror, a moment Dhont framed as raw and necessary to convey her dysphoria . But the inclusion of full-frontal nudity—depicting a minor, played by an 18-year-old actor—drew accusations of sensationalism. The Hollywood Reporter called it "the most dangerous movie about a trans character in years," questioning whether the scene crossed a line into exploitation .
Dhont’s response? The nudity was never gratuitous. In interviews, he described it as a "visual metaphor" for Lara’s struggle, a way to show the disconnect between her identity and her body . Yet the debate underscored a larger tension: Can cisgender filmmakers authentically tell trans stories without perpetuating harmful tropes?
Awards Buzz and the Netflix Effect
Despite the backlash, Girl became a critical darling. It earned a 7/10 rating on SensCritique, based on nearly 9,000 votes, and praise from outlets like The New York Times, which called it "a transgender portrait of uncommon depth" . The film’s Netflix release in 2019 amplified its reach—and its controversies. Trans activists and critics clashed over whether Girl was a groundbreaking work of empathy or a well-intentioned misfire.
Dhont, for his part, has stood by the film, arguing that representation isn’t just about who’s in front of the camera but how stories are told . But the conversation around Girl has evolved since its release, with many now viewing it as a cautionary tale about the limits of allyship in filmmaking.
**The Legacy: What Girl Left Behind**
Five years on, Girl remains a flashpoint in discussions about trans representation in cinema. It’s a film that demanded to be seen, even as it divided audiences. For some, it’s a heartbreaking, visually stunning portrait of resilience. For others, it’s a reminder of how far Hollywood still has to go.
One thing is certain: Girl didn’t just tell a story—it forced one.
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