Film

Disclosure

Disclosure is a clear-eyed film essay that pairs decades of Hollywood clips with candid testimony from trans actors, writers and historians, tracing how movies taught audiences what to feel about trans people — and taught trans viewers what to feel about themselves. It's talking-heads documentary at its sharpest: illuminating, occasionally infuriating, and hard to unsee once you've watched it.

TMDb rating7.8

If you liked this

Paris Is Burning1991

The ballroom scene documentary that everything since owes a debt to — funny, heartbreaking, and full of people speaking for themselves with total clarity and style.

But Directed by a white cis outsider to the community it depicts, a tension the film itself doesn't fully reckon with.

Paris Is Burning poster

Pose2018

The largest cast of trans actresses ever assembled for a scripted series, dramatizing 1980s ballroom culture with real joy, ambition, and heartbreak in equal measure.

But Leans melodramatic and soap-operatic at times; some plot turns prioritize sweep over subtlety.

Pose poster

The Celluloid Closet1996

The same investigative move Disclosure makes, applied a generation earlier to gay and lesbian characters — a foundational text for thinking about images and harm.

But Older and narrower in focus; some of its own clips and framing now feel a little dated.

The Celluloid Closet poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Glen or Glenda1953no page yet

This is where it all starts. Watching the actual ground zero of American cinema's trans imagery — decades before the tropes Disclosure dissects had even hardened into cliché — reframes everything that came after.

Ed Wood's sincere, wildly incompetent plea for tolerance is the first American film to address trans identity head-on — bizarre, earnest, and oddly moving.

But Legendarily bad filmmaking by any normal standard; you're watching this as an artifact, not for craft.

More like this (8)

Tangerine2015no page yet

Shot guerrilla-style on iPhones, this dark comedy follows two trans sex workers through one chaotic LA Christmas Eve with real velocity and heart.

But Handheld, scrappy, and loud — some will find the humor abrasive and the plot thin.

A Fantastic Woman2017no page yet

Daniela Vega gives a quietly devastating lead performance in this Oscar-winning Chilean drama about grief, dignity, and being denied both.

But Subtitled, slow-moving, and steeped in sorrow — not a light watch.

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson2017no page yet

A documentary investigation into the unsolved death of a trans activist and Stonewall veteran, weaving history, activism, and unresolved grief together.

But The central mystery never resolves, which some viewers find satisfying and others find frustrating.

Transparent2014

A genuinely groundbreaking family drama about a parent coming out as trans later in life, sharply written and beautifully acted around the edges.

But Casting a cis man in the lead trans role is exactly the practice Disclosure critiques, and the creator's own conduct scandal complicates the legacy.

Transparent poster

Boys Don't Cry1999

A landmark, wrenching drama based on the murder of Brandon Teena, anchored by a performance that won Hilary Swank an Oscar.

But A cis actress playing a trans man is precisely the casting debate this documentary raises; also brutally violent.

Boys Don't Cry poster

Kiki: Love to Love2016no page yet

A quieter, more collaborative return to the ballroom scene decades after Paris Is Burning, made with much closer involvement from its subjects.

But Lower-key and less cinematic than its predecessor; plays more like a companion piece than a standalone.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power2018

Disclosure keeps asking what representation looks like when trans people help make it instead of just being watched by it. This cartoon, aimed at eight-year-olds, is one of the clearest answers on television.

A gentle, funny reboot with a gender-fluid character voiced by a nonbinary actor, built entirely without the anxieties Disclosure spends two hours unpacking.

But It's a kids' cartoon — the pacing, tone, and stakes will feel slight if you've come from heavier adult fare.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power poster

Psycho1960

Disclosure names this film directly as the moment mainstream cinema welded trans identity to monstrosity in the public imagination. You've probably already seen it — you just haven't seen it this way.

Hitchcock's thriller is a masterclass in tension and one of the most influential films ever made — essential viewing on craft alone.

But It's the very trope Disclosure spends real time unpacking, which makes it a genuinely uncomfortable rewatch once you know the history.

Psycho poster

People

Cast

Directing

Production

Recommended by

Tootsie, Paris Is Burning, The Celluloid Closet