Summary
This short but touching documentary about the young Australian trans activist Georgie Stone does an excellent job of balancing showing the difficulties she has encountered and the victories she has celebrated.
Netflix documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone was released on September 23, 2022.
Georgie Stone is an incredible young woman. She’s an actress, writer, and trans rights activist, having been the youngest person in Australia to receive hormone blockers. She and her family have fought not only for her right to transition but for the rights of all trans children across Australia to be in charge of making decisions about their own bodies and lives. She also played and helped conceptualize a trans character on the popular Australian soap opera Neighbors in an effort to create a visible trans character for people to connect with.
Georgie’s incredible life makes it no surprise that a documentary about her would be compelling. The short 29-minute The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone chronicles her life leading up to her time in the hospital receiving her gender affirmation surgery at the age of eighteen. The documentary combines footage of her at many different ages to yield a portrait of her growing up.
The film highlights her activism work on behalf of trans children and against bullying and her court case. But what makes it truly excel is how it combines these with more personal moments. We come to see that Georgie has had the support of her parents, in particular her mother, and of her twin brother. One touching interview with him as a child shows him saying that he thinks it’s more fun to have a girl around instead of just two boys because it means that they can play a girl and a boy superhero.
The documentary is incredibly well edited, combing lots of home video with clips of her in the hospital. The editing often produces beautiful parallels throughout her life. The documentary does a great job of providing enough information for the viewer to understand Georgie’s situation, without wasting time over-explaining anything. It’s honest about her difficulties as well as her victories, not glossing over anything nor overly dramatizing anything.
Netflix documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone is impressive in how much it is able to do in its short runtime. It provides a portrait of an impressive young woman who has already achieved much, though the odds were often against her. Well edited and compiled, it’s a compelling watch whether you have heard of Georgie before or not.
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