Fantastic Fest 2024: ‘Binary’ is a poignant trans tale

Some stories don’t require a full-length feature runtime. With Binary, screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest, director David-Jan Bronsgeest packs a powerful tale about gender identity in only 42 slim minutes. Such a creative decision serves the story well. Lean and mean, there’s no extra fat on the bone to get in the way of Nisha’s (Inaya Zarakhel) journey of self-actualization. Borrowing body horror elements, Bronsgeest’s story — aided in development by four trans women in various stages of transition — offers up a poignant portrayal of a young trans woman struggling to decide if she wants gender-affirming surgery. Its effectiveness lies in the complicated nature of gender and how one’s own self can eat you alive, boosted with brutal bursts of violence and a strong emotional core.

Nisha traded out her life in Pakistan and now works as a dancer in the Netherlands. Her old life still haunts her. While her brother embraces her new identity, Nisha’s mother fails to accept her for who she is, frequently referring to Nisha as “my son.” The film delicately addresses this thematic element with great nuance and gives Zarakhel plenty to chew on with a commanding lead performance. Nisha’s best friend Eva (Charlie Chan Dagelet), also a popular dancer, offers Nisha immense emotional support in every facet of her life. Their friendship serves as an essential pillar in Nisha’s voyage through the pain of coming out and learning how to exist in the world.

But every time Nisha embraces her identity, a scaly-skinned demon manifests inside her body. She labors to breathe, her body writhing in agony, until she spews blood and a slimy pod creature out of her throat. The critter hatches from its goopy casing and exponentially grows in size until it takes on a lanky human form. Always shot in darkness, the long-haired beast seeks to destroy Nisha and hinder her from living as her most authentic self. In one of the film’s most significant moments, she wrestles the grotesque oddity to the ground and demands that Nisha is her name, her identity, and her true self. Her words arrive during the climax, to punctuate her entire character arc.

Along the way, Nisha endures emotional, psychological, and physical violence. When Eva invites her along for an exclusive performance for her boyfriend and his soccer buddies, things quickly go off the rails as one of the men wants something more than just a lap dance. The film strikes like hot iron on the skin, particularly when Nisha bears a gruesome and disgusting act of brutality. While arguably unnecessary for the film’s central thesis, the scene results in welcome sequences of retribution, which are based on actual real-life events. Bronsgeest flips the script here and allows the film to take on a more monstrous and vengeful tone.

Heavy on style, courtesy of cinematographer Jeroen Kiers, Binary originally appeared in an anthology TV mini-series. With the way it claws through the material and provokes the viewer to think deeper about gender, the film more than stands on its own gnarly two feet. Zarakhel shines and elevates the work with an incredibly layered and thoughtful performance. From the first frame to the very last, she beacons the audience to take a wild ride through the experience of one trans woman. And it’s guaranteed to stick with you long after the credits have rolled.

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