Something You Said Last Night is a warm-hearted film about a family holiday. Renata and Sierra are college-aged sisters who go away with their parents for a nice week near the beach for their father’s birthday. Cue classic sibling rivalry, pure regression, and the inevitable family argument.
This film is full of such good humour, borne from how totally identifiable all the interactions are, of Mum trying to get a sing-a-long going in the car, to getting ditched by your sister for some boy, to Dad trying to watch tv during quality time together. Despite Renata and Sierra being in their early 20s, being under the same roof with their parents just immediately makes them look more like sulking teenagers, as they roll their eyes at each other over their mum’s overenthusiasm, or stare at their phones to get an escape from the constant cacophony of family life.
The fact that this film has a trans lead and that’s allowed to be almost incidental, is such a welcome change. While it exists in the milieu of public interactions, Ren being aware of glances or half-overheard snatches, this is not a film that focuses on transphobia or being trans. We’re actually allowed to have a film about a family vacation and the main character is just trans.
Really enjoyed this film. Loved the relationship between the sisters especially, reminded me so much of my own sisters, where you could drive each other up the wall, but would actually die for one another. Loved them phoning the gran and Gran just giving the rundown of who died since they last spoke. Also loved the mum, who is great, just the best, but also a bit of a relentless nightmare at times. Spent the whole film looking at the mum going, “I know you from somewhere, I do,” then realised she played Ray’s sister in Due South. The whole cast worked brilliantly together, they really came across as a believable family.
Such a nice, warm, funny, family film.