Cat Russell

I loved this movie! The costumes, settings, acting, plot, and cinematography were all very satisfying. In this true story, Anne Lister was a strong woman who was in love with the kind of nightmare push-pull manipulator that many of us have suffered because of. It is healing to see Anne navigate her way to a healthy, happy lesbian life, despite that entanglement and the prejudice of the society. If you liked Tipping the Velvet, watch The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister! I found them similarly wonderful.

I wanted to like this movie -- there are so few lesbian love stories out there -- but I didn't. I found it boring, and the characters all unsympathetic and unattractive. How many movies are we going to have to put up with that feature lesbians getting together on the eve of one of them marrying a man? Please. Gross. No one was actually communicating the way they felt -- they were just flailing around sort of passively hurting each other. The fact that the main character was allowing her child to misbehave constantly was also really annoying. I gave up in the middle.

This movie is much more subtle and entertaining than you'd expect just from reading the plot summary. Yes, it's another high school love triangle/ "Cyrano de Bergerac" retelling, and in that sense predictable, but the acting, dialogue, cinematography, and characterization are very well done. Even the minor characters are more than ciphers, and the main characters are very sympathetic and memorable. Don't expect steamy sex -- there isn't any -- but there is plenty of thoughtfulness and heart. The Half of It is right up there with Alice Wu's earlier lesbian rom com Saving Face -- both are among my favorite lesbian films ever.