Get the latest gossip
‘Outerlands’ Review: A Slow-Burn Nonbinary Drama Set in a Changing San Francisco
Asia Kate Dillon delivers a remarkable performance in Elena Oxman’s feature debut 'Outerlands,' set in a changing San Francisco.
With the help of Lena Raine’s haunting score — built of paradoxes between electronic tones and orchestral compositions — “Outerlands” frames San Francisco as a transient space, never fully allowing Cass to feel at ease. For those who’ve experienced great pain in childhood, one’s inner child is something still in need of nurture — something of which Cass is reminded by an older lesbian woman she meets at a bank, the kind-eyed Denise (Lea DeLaria, in a small but moving role). Dillon taps into this delicate aspect of queer and gender non-conforming experience — that of someone lacking support structures — by creating a hardened surface that lures the audience in, making us curious to not just discover the details of Cass’ past, but eager to feel their most complicated, contradictory emotions alongside them.
Or read this on Variety
