Life is about to change big time for Sid (Debargo Sanyal), and not all of it is of his choosing.  Recovering from the breakup from a closeted boyfriend (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) Sid has decided it is now time to dress like a woman in public and start taking hormones to finally starting his transitioning. 

If that isn’t unsettling enough a 14-year-old boy called Ralph (Jamie Myers) turns up on Sid’s doorstep and claims that Sid is his father.  Evidently, he had a quick fling in High School with the mother only (he admitted to his best friend) as a means to sleep with her more attractive brother.  Ralph thinks it is very cool that his biological father is an Asian Indian Transwoman, and is even more excited when he gets to meet his traditional Punjabi grandparents. 

Sid’s parents who are still trying to get their head around the transition (‘I want my son back!’, the mother cries )but they welcome their first grandchild with open arms.  The only fly in the ointment is that Ralph, even though he claims otherwise, has not let on to his mother that he is now seeing his father and grandparents on a regular basis. 

And are a chance meeting in the park Daniel begs to be taken back claiming he will now love Sid for who she really is, and Sid finds it too tough to refuse his ‘come-to-bed’ eyes which she knows she will regret sooner than later,

Venus is the first narrative feature, from Canadian writer-director Eisha Marjara and is a really touching crowd-pleaser of a movie.  Kudos for avoiding making the transgender strand of the story melodramatic as often is the norm, and especially for making Ralph’s acceptance of the situation so non-judgemental that only a child would do.

However what takes this movie to another whole level is the pitch-perfect performance of Sanyal which is an absolute joy to watch. He avoids all the cliches of over-playing his very intriguing character and gives her such a dignity and a presence that lights up the screen in all his/her scenes. He is a truly gifted comic actor who knows exactly how to react to all the drama around him in this very entertaining comedy.

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