Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Anything’s Possible is a romantic teen comedy about a straight boy falling in love with a transgender girl.
Kelsa (Eva Reign), a transgender high school senior, starts to feel an attraction to Khal (Abubakr Ali), one of the students in her art class. Since Kelsa is apprehensive about the possibility of having a boyfriend, she keeps her feelings private.
When Kelsa is hanging out with her friends, Em (Courtnee Carter) and Chris (Kelly Lamor), at lunch, Em confides that she has a crush of Khal. Em asks Kelsa to giver Khal a note because she’s too shy to do it. Kelsa apprehensively agrees, then drops the note in front of Khal as she passes him.
Later that evening she messages Khal on social media, explaining that the note wasn’t from her. They talk, then become more friendly as they continue to interact in and out of class.
Khal wants to start dating Kelsa, but he’s concerned about what other people might think, especially his homophobic friend, Otis (Grant Reynolds). Since he’s an active contributor on Reddit, he asks Reddit users what to do. The response is mostly positive, with users telling him not to worry about what other people think.
The next day Khal brings flowers to school. He sees Kelsa sitting with Em and Chris, then nervously starts talking to Kelsa. As he talks, Em gets excited because she thinks the flowers are for her. When Khal gives the flowers to Kelsa, Em gets upset and storms off. And with that, the drama begins…
Some Thoughts:
Anything’s Possible does a good job depicting Kelsa and Khal’s relationship. Kelsa is concerned that people will date her to show how woke they are, and Khal is worried about his parents’ approval.
Despite wanting to move to a place where nobody knows her prior to transitioning, she has a YouTube channel where she discusses the process. Supposedly she has it to help other people in her situation, but I don’t see how that jives with her wanting nobody to know. Maybe there’s some logic to it, but I don’t get it.
Kelsa’s mother (Renée Elise Goldsberry) is protective of her daughter and doesn’t want her posting on YouTube, so Kelsa keeps it a secret. And since it becomes a sticking point later in the movie, it feels like something added just for drama. There’s more than enough story to make this part of the film unnecessary.
Because the story veers off into unnecessary sub plots, it often feels unfocused. I already mentioned Kelsa’s YouTube channel, but the drama when Chris breaks it off with her boyfriend has very little bearing with the main story. It’s also confusing.
The acting is decent enough to make the characters seem realistic. Khal’s attraction to Kelsa (and vice-versa) is believable, as are the reactions from family and friends. The story about how Em is jealous of Kelsa’s relationship with Khal gives this teen romance the edge it needs. Em makes a great villain.
The Final Verdict:
While Anything’s Possible is enjoyable, it often loses sight of the story.
