Sabine Bernardi has nailed a fierce, tight, dramatic and moving story with this outstanding and challenging film. Can't say enough about the acting, directing and filming of this movie.I'm always wowed when the lead character is a whole human being - i.e., not perfect, but flawed and challenged - and you are still compelled to fall in love with that character. Mix that with a topic as difficult for some people (including myself for a large part of my life) as the subject of transgender (and do it well) and it results in a first-class story.Both leads are very good in this story, but Fabio, our lead's romantic interest, is really a backdrop and context for the voyage of self-discovery for the lead, Lukas. The mingling of the process of making the transition from female to male and the growing romance between the two leads is amazing, supple and moving.This is one of the most unique and get-under-your-skin films I've ever seen.

Honestly I thought the character Lukas was treated really unfair to anyone who was so close to him. I thought that Ine one was such an unsupportive person like why was he still friends with her? The storyline was always so upsetting and very depressing really, I nearly had tears.I wouldn't call this a best LGBT movie because the actors didn't show much emotion doing their roles especially Rick Okon who played the lead character. Himself and the cast probably didn't like being involved with this film. Lemme tell ya, it's not the best to look at even on a Saturday night!

It is becoming really scarce that an indie film has this kind of execution. Good actors, good dialogue, a plot that is like nothing else you've seen. The movie focuses on the identity crisis of a trans person, but then it shows you that the identity crisis, often isn't coming from the person themselves (they're actually pretty sure of what gender they belong to) but its the world who has the real crisis, the people around you, friends, family who are supposed to support you. The way the main character keeps fighting to find his place, it was heartbreaking and just really touching. We see the transformation too, and its just brilliant. I was completely amazed.

"Romeos"....is a Carefree title....a Fun title. BUT, buckle up your seatbelts and hold on tight....for the ride you're about to be taken on is, often, neither carefree nor fun. And why is that? Because, over and over, you'll be asking yourself: HOW is this young guy...this Rick Okon, from a little town in the Northeast fringes of Germany, able to drag us inch by inch by inch into all his emotional turmoil: Into his shyness...his physical discomfort...his fear of discovery...his beginnings of love? ....And while doing so with little more than his frequent arms-hugging-himself poses...his facial expressions...and those dark EYES. Well, the answer is just something you'll have to figure out after the trip. For each of us, it will have been different.But...forget the "HOW" we've just discussed. More important is the "WHAT"....for what we are being given here is a Near-Equal to the Oscar winning Best Actor performance in 1999's "Boys Don't Cry". That time, Hilary Swank......this time, a rising young German star. As the transgendering Lukas, Okon takes us along on an important part of his journey through the swirling emotions of Hormone Replacement Therapy. And on to complete physical transformation from female-to-male. BUT....in this film, unlike in others, the end goal is to find a same-sex (Male / Male) relationship. About which, please note the following:(( I can talk about this movie's particular sex-change circumstances in no better way than to paraphrase a quote by Reviewer, "nnenok from Slovenia" (here at IMDb.com): The MOST IMPORTANT lesson this film gives to us and to any already Transgendered-to-Male person (who is attracted to another Male) IS: ...Being attracted to a woman doesn't make you a man---but FEELING like a man does. )) So...maybe "Boys Don't Cry". Yet, perhaps at times, this film will bring you to the verge of doing so. For what we are seeing is a near breath-taking and heart wrenching performance (I often recall James Dean), about a young, transgendering German who has fallen for a macho Lover-Boy type. Yes, yes, Maximilian Befort, as Fabio, has a face and body which will keep your dreams HOT for days. A Lover-Boy?...sure. A Sex Bomb?...you bet. In fact, he's Sex on a Stick! YET, despite acting self-centered and forever off to the next conquest, his scenes with Lukas are always exciting ones...giving us a gut feel for the Fever which is building up between these 2, a Fever always tempered by fear of Fabio discovering the hidden transgendered condition.As to Fabio's side of this relationship, he is kept almost always off-balance, and in a perplexed state: Lukas being turned-on by Fabio...quickly followed by instances of Lukas shutting Fabio down. But, still, hard as it is to live with the emotional changes being thrown at him...Fabio does keep trying; he keeps coming back for more. (Leading to this Reviewer's opinion that Lukas has him hooked....letting the line out, then pulling it back--even if not always aware he's doing so).And so, I TRULY BELIEVE the ending lovemaking scene is giving us The Key to this relationship; oh, yes indeed, it is. BUT, that is not half as much as we are being told by the last few seconds shot, wherein we are watching through the lens of a digital camera...and seeing: A deliriously happy, and completely transgendered Lukas, taking off running into seaside sand dunes toward water's edge. Come on, now....STOP AND THINK about it! That CAN'T be all we're seeing. Because you know what? SOMEONE is holding that camera....You wanna take any bets as to WHO?Enjoy this Special Movie....And, thank you, Sabine.PS--And amidst all the turmoil...Thank Heavens for the occasional fun, lightness, and warm support given by terrific young actress, Liv Lisa Fries, as "Ine"...the B(Girl)FF of our Lukas during their growing-up years.****