Living her best life in southeastern Brazil’s large, metropolitan center of Uberlândia, trans teen Valentina (Thiessa Woinbackk in a star-making debut) thrives in the anonymity of a bustling city where she is free to be herself, surrounded by supportive friends and the fierce, unwavering love of her single mother Marcia. But when Marcia accepts a new job, the pair relocate to the remote, cloistered community where attitudes are provincial and anonymity is near impossible. To make matters worse, the local high school is reluctant to recognize Valentina under her social name without her estranged father’s signature. When the community keeps finding new, often violent ways to block Valentina’s happiness, she realizes that she must stand her ground. With his warm and affecting debut feature, writer-director Cássio Pereira dos Santos joins a powerful generation of Brazilian filmmakers notable for pushing the envelope on representations of identity and sexuality in cinema.