A Fantastic Woman shows every sign of a likely Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film

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A FANTASTIC WOMAN (M)

Rating: four stars (4 out of 5)

Director: Sebastian Lelio (Gloria)

Starring: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Aline Kuppenheim, Nicolas Saavedra.

The painful process of being forgotten, but not forgiven

The clear favourite for Best Foreign Language Film at next month’s Academy Awards, A Fantastic Woman is a moving, mind-opening character study with a difference from the South American nation of Chile.

It is here, in the capital city of Santiago, that an already difficult life is about to become so much harder.

Marina Vidal (a composed and emotionally astute performance from Daniela Vega) is a transgender nightclub singer whose long-term boyfriend has suddenly died from an aneurysm.

In the days, weeks and months that follow, Marina barely gets the chance to come to terms with her loss.

Local detectives believe she may have taken a guiding hand in the tragedy that befell her kindly older lover, Orlando (Francisco Reyes).

The suspicions of police intensify further when they notice the disparity between Marina’s preferred name, and the name under which she was born (and by which she must still be legally identified).

Meanwhile, Orlando’s surviving family (most notably, ex-wife Sonia, played by Aline Kuppenheim) want all trace of Marina removed from how they will remember their late loved one.

Not only is she prohibited from attending Orlando’s funeral service. All of the simple joys in life that Marina shared with her soulmate - their idyllic apartment, their cute little dog, their wordless lines of communication - are being openly, aggressively erased from the record.

As if such vivid memories never happened. As if Marina never existed to experience them first-hand.

Sadly and inevitably, Marina’s gender identity - and the prejudice and panicked misunderstandings that it draws - makes her desire to mourn and move on far more arduous than it should be for anyone.

Though A Fantastic Woman can be a clunky film at times, the depth of feeling found in the honest, authentic and brave work of trans actress Vega forges a connection with viewers that remains unbroken throughout.