When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.2/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.41/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Metacritic: 66
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Tom Hooper
Production
Pretty Pictures, Working Title Films, Artémis Productions, Shelter Productions, Senator Global Productions, ReVision Pictures
Cast
Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Pip Torrens, Nicholas Woodeson, Amber Heard, Emerald Fennell, Adrian Schiller, Henry Pettigrew, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Miltos Yerolemou, Jake Graf, Tusse Silberg, Claus Bue, Peter Krag, Angela Curran, Richard Dixon, Paul Bigley
Curator Review
Verdict
A visually polished, emotionally earnest biographical drama with strong performances, but it’s also widely criticized for centering cis perspectives and flattening a trans story into prestige-movie uplift. It may resonate as a period romance and awards-era melodrama, but it’s a difficult recommendation if you want a trans film that feels fully lived-in or politically sharp.
Best for
Viewers interested in prestige historical dramas
Fans of emotionally restrained, awards-style acting showcases
Audiences looking for a tragic period romance
People curious about the film’s cultural reception and controversy
Skip if
You want a trans story told with contemporary nuance and authenticity
You’re sensitive to misgendering and cis-centric framing
You dislike polished but emotionally manipulative Oscar-bait dramas
You prefer films with more radical or formally adventurous queer storytelling
Overview
The Danish Girl is handsome, mournful, and carefully mounted, with Tom Hooper’s usual taste for controlled compositions and performance-forward drama. Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander give committed, carefully modulated performances, and the film has a sincere interest in love, identity, and loss.
Worth noting
But sincerity is not the same as insight. The movie has long been criticized for treating Lili’s transition as a vehicle for cis emotional drama, and that limitation is hard to ignore. Its period setting gives it a tragic grandeur, yet the script often feels cautious where it should feel revelatory.
Bottom line
As a prestige biopic, it works better than it does as a trans narrative. If you approach it as an awards-season melodrama about devotion and self-discovery, there is craft to admire. If you want a film that feels genuinely centered on trans interiority, this is not the one to lead with.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sally Jane Black · 5802 likes
To my cisgender friends, I ask that, even if you would not normally do so, you please read this. This film was made for cisgender people, so I feel it important that I write this for cisgender people. I would not normally watch this movie, but it has been a subject of some discussion on this site in a way that has compelled me to watch it in order to discuss it credibly. I do not imagine what I have… more To my cisgender friends, I ask that, even if you would not normally do so, you please read this. This film was made for cisgender people, so I feel it important that I write this for cisgender people. I would not normally watch this movie, but it has been a subject of some discussion on this site in a way that has compelled me to watch it in order to discuss it credibly. I do not imagine what I have… more
Scott Anderson (1★) · 1168 likes
I once worked with a man who walked around the office with an anti-gay marriage petition, asking everyone to sign it. Many did. I refused. At the time, my daughter was less than a year old and the man with a clipboard decided to try to convince me to sign my name on the dotted line by bringing her into the conversation.
"What would you say to your daughter if she saw two men kissing?" he asked.
Talk to her.… more
Eli Hayes (1.5★) · 981 likes
Not only primitive, but voidin its political observations.If you're going to try to make something progressive,make something progressive(like Tangerine, for instance, though the two films can't be compared).
Ignorant, close-minded, borderline-delusional filmmakingor, in other words, this year's American Sniper.1.5 stars for Vikander and Vikander only.
Lucy (2★) · 790 likes
alicia vikander if you read this i'm free on thursday night and would like to hang out. please respond to this and then hang out with me on thursday night when i'm free
King #adoptdontshop (4★) · 740 likes
The Danish Girl seemed to not age well with all the negative reviews here. And while your frustration and talking points are never unreasonable, just please hear me out: while this movie may be biologically inaccurate, it showed how far we've come since the 1930s. If Lili Elbe experienced cruelty and discrimination, its because homosexuality was heavily fawned upon then. If The Danish Girl repeatedly and erroneously misgendered Lili, its because she was misgendered in her days. This is a sad… more The Danish Girl seemed to not age well with all the negative reviews here. And while your frustration and talking points are never unreasonable, just please hear me out: while this movie may be biologically inaccurate, it showed how far we've come since the 1930s. If Lili Elbe experienced cruelty and discrimination, its because homosexuality was heavily fawned upon then. If The Danish Girl repeatedly and erroneously misgendered Lili, its because she was misgendered in her days. This is a sad… more