It’s only April, and yet 2018 is turning out to be a landmark year for LGBTQ characters on the big screen. Earlier this year, “Love, Simon” broke ground by becoming the first major studio film to focus on a gay teenage romance. Now, “A Kid Like Jake” will introduce audiences to a story centered on a child’s exploration of their gender. What’s equally as exciting about this film? That director Silas Howard has been named “one of the most influential trans directors working today.” There’s a lot of hype on paper for this film, and the official trailer and synopsis seems to live up to it.
Alex (Claire Danes) and Greg (Jim Parsons) have always known that their four-year-old son, Jake, was more interested in fairy tales than toy cars, but when preschool director Judy points out that his gender nonconforming play may be more than a phase, they are forced to rethink their roles as parents and even as a couple.
“A Kid Like Jake” premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival where it received largely positive reviews. People praised Howard’s deft handling of the film’s subject matter. Howard spoke to Deadline at Sundance and said: “in spite of a lot of movement towards understanding differences, it’s still very difficult to have inclusiveness and this really does it in a human way.”
Howard is no stranger to making audiences feel all the emotions with work that consistently pushes against societal boundaries. Howard has helmed episodes of “Transparent,” “This is Us,” Freeform’s “The Fosters,” and FX‘s upcoming “Pose.” And screenwriter Daniel Pearle adapted the film from his own 2013 play of the same name. In an interview with the New York Times, Pearle said that one should “let children express themselves however they want, wherever they want, it’s still very difficult to have inclusiveness, and this really does it in a human way.”
In addition to Danes and Parson, an all-star ensemble of Octavia Spencer, Priyanka Chopra, Ann Dowd, and Amy Landecker round out the cast.
Look out for “A Kid Like Jake” in theaters June 8.