TIFF Review: 'About Ray' Starring Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts & Susan Sarandon

What happens to the human body during the years of adolescence is nothing short of a freak show. Limbs grow disproportionately, hair starts appearing in weird places, the voice changes, but eventually, the adult self begins to show through. Arms and legs start evening out, features become sharpened and defined, and the visual identity that will determine your image to your world takes shape. It’s not always the most pleasant time for teenagers, and one can only imagine it’s doubly so for anyone who knows the gender they were born with, is not the one they can live with. While the title of “About Ray” purports to be about one such boy going through this experience, the film might more accurately be titled “About Maggie.” Naomi Watts plays Maggie, the mother of Ray (Elle Fanning), born Ramona, who is getting ready to begin the major steps of medically transitioning into a man. Maggie is a single Mom who seems to have never recovered from her rough and tumble younger days, moving in...