Reelout Queer Film Festival 2021

Cowboys - Reelout/Positive Space Closing Selection

Expired February 9, 2021 2:00 AM
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This program is brought to you by the Positive Space program at Queen's University's Human Rights Office. Thank you to Jean Pfleiderer, Ruth Santamaria and the rest of the staff for your continued support!

There will be a FEELOUT REELOUT WRAP ZOOM PARTY at 9pm to talk about the film and the festival in general so come join us at this LINK.

This program is recommended for persons 14+ due to Mature Content.

In a breathtaking Montana landscape, Troy (a dynamite Steve Zahn, who won the Best Actor prize at the Tribeca Film Festival) escapes to the Canadian border on horseback with his golden-haired, 11-year-old son Joe. How did these “cowboys” wind up here? Unfolding clue by clue through flashbacks, this moving, suspenseful feature from writer-director Anna Kerrigan skillfully tells the story of a contemporary family struggling with how best to raise a transgender child.

Joe’s anxious mother (Jillian Bell, Godmothered) still calls her child “Josie,” insisting on dresses and banning cowboy boots unless they’re pink. Troy grasps their son’s identity, but his sensitive parenting is offset by a wildness that puts Joe’s life in danger. As for Joe (remarkable trans newcomer Sasha Knight), he just wants to live his truth: cutting his hair short, fishing in a country river, and being a real cowboy. Cowboys also stars the always wonderful Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) as a dogged detective closing in on the fugitive duo as tension mounts toward an explosive climax.

— synopsis written by K.M. SOEHNLEIN Frameline Film Festival



  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    83 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Director
    Anna Kerrigan
  • Cast
    Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, Sasha Knight, Ann Dowd