It’s Christmas Eve in a grubby corner of LA, and Sin-Dee and Alexandra are having a rough night. Sin-Dee has just discovered that her boyfriend cheated on her, and Alexandra can’t even get her friends to come watch her one-woman show. As the two women strut and swagger their way through Los Angeles, their huge personalities and irreverent support of each other is utterly infectious. Tangerine is the best kind of down- and-dirty buddy movie, in that nothing much happens, and in these nothing moments lie the everything of a person’s day-to-day life.
Oh, by the way: the two lead actresses are transgender women, their characters are prostitutes, and the entire film was shot on an iPhone.
These aspects of the film are both vitally important, yet are brilliantly made to feel tangential. Through their work and interactions with LA locals, Sin-Dee and Alexandra are forced to constantly navigate their identity, and seek out moments of love, respect and affection.
Sin-Dee’s (Kiki Kitana Rodriguez) quest is more obvious, as she stomps, kicks and screams her way towards her philandering beau, the camera playfully following every rollercoaster swing of her hips, and every razorsharp one—liner that she throws like a dart. Meanwhile Alexandra (Mya Taylor) is more plaintive, her open vulnerability visible as she croons to an empty nightclub.
Baker’s deep affection for his characters’ humour and humanity is matched only by his love of Los Angeles. Shot in luminescent saturated colours, Baker shows both the garish promise of dreams and the vibrant excitement the city offers, as well as the grounded reality of long bus rides, hugely diverse populations, and areas of multi- faceted disadvantage.
Political, progressive, fun, flirty and emotional, Tangerine is quite the trip.