Kitana Kiki Rodriguez

Sin-Dee Rella walks as if every delay were an insult. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez gives her the same urgency in conversation in Sean Baker’s Tangerine (2015), pushing on before an objection can slow her down. We laughed at how much work she puts into remaining furious: even the pace of her speech suggests someone determined not to let an argument subside. It is forceful comic acting, with enough need beneath the noise to keep Sin-Dee from becoming merely exhausting.

It was a debut made without previous acting experience, under Baker’s direction, but that does not explain everything she does. Rodriguez drew on experience of the Los Angeles trans community for details of the performance. What matters on screen is how she uses them: she makes Sin-Dee’s impatience clear through movement and pace, without needing to stop and explain herself. We can understand how much getting her own way matters without being obliged to approve of it.

Mya Taylor is essential to why this works as more than a sustained display of temper. The friendship they put on screen is convincing, and it gives the abrasive comedy warmth without asking Rodriguez to make Sin-Dee agreeable. Their work also survives the film’s weakness for plotting that feels a little too tidy. When the story arranges things too neatly, the performances still give us two people worth staying with, which is why we recommend the film despite that reservation.

We would be wary of turning this one role into a fixed idea of what Rodriguez can do. Sin-Dee’s sharp tongue is memorable, but so is the vulnerability Rodriguez allows beneath it; another part need not ask for the same speed or temper. Go to Tangerine for her scenes with Taylor, and do not expect either actor to make the evening polite.