Film Review: EVERY BODY (2023): Julie Cohen’s Documentary is an Eye-Opening, Thought-Provoking and Compelling Film

Every Body Review

Every Body (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Julie Cohen and starring Sean Saifa Wall, Alicia Roth Weigel and River Gallo.

Julie Cohen delivers an ambitious new documentary, Every Body, which focuses on three members of the intersex community who tell their stories in an effort to help make unnecessary early surgeries for intersex babies a thing of the past. There are so many struggles that the three central people in the film take on that they become sort of like heroes for the way they are able to express themselves on screen and make changes that have affected the intersex community at large in positive ways. Cohen’s movie is fascinating to watch right from the beginning and never fails to captivate the viewer for the entirety of the picture’s running time.

This film opens by showing us baby gender reveals and how excited people seem to become when they know the “sex” of their baby. However, these reactions are not always reflective of the babies’ true identities when they grow older or even, sometimes, right at the outset at birth.

Alicia Roth Weigel is a blonde lobbyist. Alicia was born with a female outer appearance but internal testes, a fact which she admits that if she revealed it to certain people, it would probably be problematic for her to date. She is swiping casually on a dating app on her couch with her chihuahua at the beginning of the movie. Alicia is quite charismatic and of the three main people the movie centers on, comes off as, perhaps, the most vocal at trying to make changes that will be an integral part of the intersex community for future generations.

River Gallo’s dilemma is almost the opposite situation of Weigel’s. River was born with a penis, but without testicles. As River, now an artist/performer/filmmaker, grew older, doctors suggested that River get medical treatment to fit the ideals of being a male. River struggled to find a true identity as a result and didn’t identify as that gender.

Sean Saifa Wall is an intersex man who lived life as a girl in the early stages of his life. Sean was well-educated and discusses how the medical author(s) of documents around the time of his birth tried to make decisions that weren’t in sync with how Sean identified later on in life in regards to his gender.

While those three main activists get the majority of the film’s focus, there are also segments which deal with Dr. John Money who experimented with the sexuality of a twin who was born as a male but got circumcised as a child with horrific results. The circumcision resulted in the damage of the boy (named David)’s penis. Dr. Money “helped” shed light on the story of David who received surgery that turned him into a girl but, later on, David was mortified at the choices which were made for him as a child. In this case, his mother was led to believe that what was done was just under the circumstances, but it clearly was not.

The scenes with the grown David are heartbreaking and although David found some happiness in life later on, the decision that was made for him ultimately led to a heart-wrenching decision which is tragic in its excesses. What Every Body does so right is advocate for the right of the intersex individual to grow older before making changes to the body that will have ever-lasting impacts. Doctors cannot speak on the behalf of the children who are born that way. Neither can the parents. It’s an intersex individual’s right to have the final say on what happens with the body when an intersex person is of the correct age to make that complicated decision. What that age is probably hasn’t truly been determined but it’s certainly not as early as surgeries that have been performed were done.

This film briefly documents a mom on a Zoom call who has an intersex daughter due to the mother’s biological situation. This mom suggests that having more children could not be in her future but Sean bravely speaks his opinion on that topic. Sean is certainly an inspiring activist whose efforts have made quite a difference.

Interviews with Alicia, River and Sean are absorbing to watch. Alicia, in particular, stands out for being so vocal on pursuing the need for change while Sean and River seem to have suffered earlier in their lives for the choices that were made for them instead of by them. When River is looking in the mirror putting makeup on, it shows that River has come a long way from the early stages of life where everything seemed confusing.

Every Body is doing something exceptional for the intersex community. This film should be required viewing for anyone involved in trying to make a decision on the behalf of a baby who is born with biological characteristics of both a male and a female. It’s not so simple (or even fair) for a parent to make life-altering choices for a child. Cohen has crafted a complex documentary that is rewarding and takes a stand on the topics it so fiercely discusses. I loved the fact that the movie displays the pronouns of many of the filmmakers at the end credits in a fun and hopeful way that makes the film even stronger in offering a glimmer of hope for the world.

Rating: 9/10

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