At the beginning of Anything’s Possible, we’re introduced to Kelsa, recording and posting her personal vlog about her trans experience after she’s started taking hormone blockers. Here she talks about animals and how she admires how they’re named after something which is unique to them. Kelsa talks heavily about survival and this theme is represented throughout the film.
Whilst the film has a cute storyline and slower pace, the mood and vibe are shifted when there is a conflict and a fight between Kelsa and her mother, about thirty minutes before the end of the film. Kelsa’s personal trans videos go viral, hitting thousands of views in minutes, which leads to her mother seeing them. Her mum freaks out, asking for the videos to be taken down with immediate effect. They discuss online safety, and we get to see anger and fear from both a mother and a trans daughter. Seeing both perspectives is a powerful and poignant scene.
At school, there are rallies in aid of Kelsa, which she doesn’t want. This causes people to come forward against Kelsa, and this causes a physical fight between Kalid and Otis. After violence and conflicts, the film takes a softer turn.
The next part is where Khal’s parents ask “Are you transgendered?” Khal replies, “No, my girlfriend is,” and the parents look relieved and say, “Oh, he’s just gay.” This is so painfully funny, as we all know people, whether they be our friends, family, parents, or grandparents, who struggle to understand the LGBTQ+ community, and we display that soft ignorance in this scene, which is short but has a lot of impact.
There is a scene between Kelsa and her mother, where we learn more about Kelsa’s father and how Kelsa feels responsible for her mother and father’s relationship breaking down. This is where Kelsa has a personal breakthrough, opening up and letting go. She can exist and not blame herself, her transition for relationships breaking up and going wrong.
In the ending scenes, we have Khal talking about his and Kelsa’s summer, graduating, and getting into college, and there is a montage of them doing happy, normal, wonderful things that any couple would do. This is followed by a very realistic, grown-up breakup between Khal and Kelsa, as they know they’re moving to different colleges and they can’t commit long-distance.
As Kelsa is leaving, Khal pulls her in for a big dramatic kiss and asks her “What’s your favorite animal?” to which she replies with “I don’t know” — a nice circle back to the beginning, showcasing that whilst she might want to label herself which can define her uniqueness, really, she doesn’t need that label. Kelsa needs to grow and develop herself.
We end the film with Kelsa’s YouTube video, where she answers what her favorite animal is: a bird, where the man goes through metamorphosis. This felt a little on the nose, and I would have loved the ending to have been her walking away from Khal, happy, free, and almost open to a cliffhanger.
A slightly unnecessary and obvious scene for the end, but probably felt needed to round off the opening scene.
