T Blockers: The Trans Experience vs the Formula
by Eina Tubadeza
T Blockers (Alice Maio Mackay, 2023)
When there’s no renowned culture for one to live in, one must pick up fragments of cultures, piece them together, and call it your home. Alice Maio Mackay’s spoof horror T Blockers (2023) does exactly this by rebelling against the cis-dominated film industry it resides in, amalgamating intimacy, recreational substance use and possessed-bigot skull-bashing as an authentic portrayal of transgenderism. Jaded, angry, and unforgiving, Mackay declares that queer movies living outside the borders of genre and mainstream appeal must and will make new spaces for themselves to thrive within an industry that commodifies their lived experiences. As Etcetera Etcetera narrates, “…if you can’t [find the key], maybe pick the lock.”
In T Blockers, we fumble and grow with trans protagonist Sophie (Lauren Last), navigating her twenties while struggling under the rising anti-trans political climate, and absurdly, a rabid alien infection turning transphobes into flesh-eating ink-spewing monsters. Mackay’s trans rage permeates when Sophie and friends form the Masked Bigot Bashers, dedicated to annihilating anti-queerness.
After watching T Blockers, I discussed with my girlfriend, a trans woman, the trans representation in film and television: “More often than not, trans representation in the mainstream is only good when it’s not meant to be, like The Substance [when interpreted as a trans allegory]. The feeling is there, though it’s not meant explicitly for us. In more popular trans films, it’s supposed to be you, but it’s not made for you – it’s ciswashed.” We spoke on Lili from The Danish Girl where her past as a man is constantly emphasised, Jules in Euphoria – although an authentic trans representation – being bogged down by the show’s nature (young women trauma porn). Emilia Perez in her eponymous film being seen as a man after the scene where her voice lowers, basically saying ‘See, she was a man the whole time!’ The mainstream trans “formula” is what we called it, emphasising the ’before-and-after’ of a trans person. It’s a babied down tactic for cis- directors to use minorities as Oscar bait, thus turning transgenderism into a commodity. So, it’s with movies like T Blockers where despite its B movie nature, the trans direction and action is what gives it life.
In saying this, we both agreed that any of Sophie’s scenes where she simply converses with another are what make this film special and authentic. Under a fluorescent purple light, Sophie and her brother London (Joe Romeo) catch up. The dialogue is a simple back-and-forth, and self-deprecating humour seeps through. But the sheer humanness of having two siblings talk about life is incomparable, and thus a perfect example of this film’s challenging of trans objectification. It’s natural, pleasingly domestic, and a breath of fresh air from the mainstream trans formula.
It’s not just Sophie’s peace that Mackay delves into, but her violent rage when acting as a vigilante. It’s gory, but in her world it’s necessary to slay the monsters so that Sophie can retain her right to live. Good trans films like T Blockers further illuminate the emotional and mental plane of their people to encapsulate the whole experience, not just the objective gender transformation.
Mackay’s T Blockers gives us a genuinely representing protagonist: Sophie a messy and awkward transgender woman in her twenties, with the brightest passion for filmmaking, and the strongest determination in countering her oppressive world. With the reintroduction of the Trump administration, movies like Mackay’s T Blockers are more important than ever to validate authentic trans experiences like these. The time for ignorant cis- perspectives must end, and the rise of genuine media like Mackay’s must rise to help trans people survive. This isn’t a request: Mackay demands genuine attention and respect. “Never fuck with queer filmmakers,” whether the mainstream likes it or not.