ReView: ‘Tangerine,’ the Unlikely Christmas Classic

Three iPhones, two best friends and one Christmas Eve make up “Tangerine.”

Directed, written, shot and edited by indie film royalty Sean Baker, “Tangerine,” released in 2015, follows best friends and sex workers Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra, portrayed by Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, respectively. 

Fresh out of jail and in search of her cheating boyfriend and pimp, Chester, Sin-Dee, and Alexandra scramble around Los Angeles over the span of one day — Christmas Eve.

Intertwining with the narrative, a closeted Armenian taxi driver named Razmik undergoes his own search for Sin-Dee — his favorite sex worker. 

Much like his other projects, Baker (“The Florida Project,” “Anora”) takes a sympathetic, nonjudgmental perspective on sex work. Rather than being shunned or played off as a joke, the leads’ work is shown as an integral part of the Hollywood ecosystem. The majority of the conflict in the film arises when this delicate balance is disturbed.

Rodriguez and Taylor (“Stage Mother,” “High Tide”), who are both trans women, had no previous acting experience and were discovered by Baker at an LGBTQ+ center in LA. The duo’s amateur experiences result in authentic performances.

Rodriguez and Taylor’s trans identities are central to the film, providing a backbone to the characters’ intentions and motivations while still being able to poke fun at themselves.

“The world could be a cruel place,” Alexandra says in the film.

“Yes, it is cruel — God gave me a penis,” Sin-Dee responds. “That’s pretty damn cruel, don’t you think?” 

While not obvious at first, “Tangerine” was shot completely on an iPhone. With the help of a stabilizer, a cinematic iPhone lens and the cheap filmmaking app Filmic Pro, Baker not only kept costs down but emphasized the movie’s organic ambiance. 

“We were taking advantage of all the benefits that thing has — the size, how light it is, how inconspicuous it is,” Baker said in an interview with Los Angeles Magazine. “We had to embrace it.”

The inconspicuous filming equipment was especially crucial as “Tangerine” was shot entirely on the streets of LA, and is often composed of real interactions with bystanders unaware of the filming, including intimate scenes on a bus.

The rough-around-the-edges approach heightens the film’s authenticity, making it seem more like a guerilla documentary than a narrative feature. 

As the movie’s name suggests, extreme saturation in post turns the California sunset into an orange creamsicle sea. Other colors are also enriched, like the deep reds of velvet curtains during Alexandra’s Christmas Eve performance and the vibrant golden yellow of Razmik’s taxi.

Baker, a master of choreographing chaotic yet comedically genius scenes, pulled out all the stops for the film’s climax. Taking place in a donut shop, all of the movie’s plot lines converge, leading various walks of life to clash with one another in a multilingual, hilarious mess.

Contrasting musical genres like club beats and classical music emphasize the chaotic nature of the characters’ lives. In a scene in which Sin-Dee is in deep contemplation at a bus stop, orchestral music soars in the background before being quickly interrupted by a booming bass beat at the point of her epiphany.

“Tangerine” is one of the loudest, most riotous and emotionally gripping films of the 2010s. It’s a uniquely crafted movie unafraid to delve into taboo subjects — on the eve of Christmas day. 

“Tangerine” is available to stream on Netflix.