I was initially not optimistic about this thriller. The unappealing cover picture plus the IMDb synopsis and mixed reviews lead me to be rather dubious about watching it. Also I'd seen the superficially similar and awful Mascara (1987) which covers some of the same ground, namely, a Belgian location, corrupt police, serial killers targeting trans prostitutes, and opera. I'm very glad I did watch Mauvais Genre though; this is an excellent and original thriller.The lead character in the film is Bo (played by Robinson Stevenin) who comes from a haute bourgeoisie Belgian family and whose father is a famous and politically well connected doctor. The twenty year old Bo is now living in reduced circumstances in a seedy part of Brussels and working in a cabaret after becoming estranged from her Father and her mother having committed suicide. Most of her friends now are prostitutes (though note that the IMDb synopsis is incorrect in saying Bo is a prostitute; she isn't).The film opens with Bo's father being arrested for molestation and it's also at that point we learn that Bo is trans. The investigation of Bo's father forms a tightly contained subplot which adds depth to the main serial killer story.The police's treatment of Bo and her friends range from the over familiar and intimidating to violence and worse. The senior policeman on the case, Huysmans played by Richard Bohringer, is excellently sinister. You never really know what his angle on all this is until the very end. He is in a power struggle with another senior policeman, Pryzuski (Stéphane de Groot). It's good cop bad cop or is it really bad cop bad cop? It's made clear throughout the film how socially privileged Bo was and to some extent still is. She regularly intellectually outmanoeuvres the police. Huysman is constantly going on about how incredibly intelligent Bo is and at one point Huyman actually says to Bo "You could be a famous doctor, lawyer or prosecutor. Society needs you." However, Bo still has charm, good looks, and 'Bon Chic Bon Genre' style.At heart Mauvais Genre is a fairly traditional thriller and all the better for it. There are lots of maguffins and red herrings.As the film progresses Bo starts a relationship with her abusive neighbour Johnny. Robinson Stevenin didn't really manage to convince me in his portrayal that Bo was falling obsessively in love with a man who treats her very badly. That was on of the films few weak points. The other was that Bo really can't walk in heels and keeps falling over throughout the film. This gets really distracting after a while. The idea that someone as together as Bo wouldn't be able to walk in heels seems unlikely. It seems to be a crude cinematic device to show that "Bo is not a 'real' woman" and really belongs in Carry On Films or the Dick Emery show.Rather amusingly if you believe this film and Mascara everyone in Belgium seems to like opera and senior policemen have offices which look like art galleries and museums.Overall this is a very enjoyable film. In particular if you like LGBT cinema then this is an absolutely must see. I watch a lot of LGBT cinema and can't think of another film with such a strong trans character as a lead.

I didn't plan to write a comment, but there are only five, and all their ratings are high. I totally disagree with them, therefore, I wrote the following comment.I don't speak French, so I had to watch the subtitle. I checked out the DVD from a local library. The first half of movie was fine, but the subtitle starts to appear about 5 seconds later than the actual dialog. So it was getting confusing to tell who said what.There were all kinds of people who got killed with different backgrounds. , they simple don't make much sense. It seems that director just made all those killings to make this movie more "interesting".For example, after a black guy was killed. The detective did not take a heart shaped box the first time he searched the house. The detective came back to that house the second time, and went directly to the place where the box was stored. How did the detective know about this box the second time, and if he already knew about it, why didn't he take it the first time? After a man was stabbed by the killer, Bo went to that apartment. The man pointed into his pants, Bo was able to get a roll of film. Instead of giving it to the police, s/he actually kept the film himself. What for? He is not the detective, and he doesn't know what is in the film, why would he wants to keep the film? Then he went to someone s/he knows, asked him to develop the film for him. And that guy didn't even bother to ask Bo why s/he has those graphic pictures?Overall, there were lots of scenes that don't make sense at all. It is a confusing movie.

" Transfixed" is a movie about the people who live on the outskirts of society. Isolated and frequently shunned by the rest of the world, trans-gender and transsexual people form their own family circle that mimics the bonds of the "ordinary" folk. That fragile little support system is shattered to pieces by the serial killer that targets members of their sisterhood. So far so good- but that's when the problems with this movie start. The director , experienced Francis Girod, seems little lost in this shifty world of cross-dressing hookers, hustlers and police informers. Somehow in a process the whole atmosphere of the movie becomes contrived and stilted. Like the matron of society slumming for cheap thrills in the underbelly of the city dressed in her Sunday best. The only possible way to make this kind of movie is to bravely plunge into this world. Dipping couple of toes just isn't enough.

Francis Girod began his career with a scandalous movie:Romy Schneider,who was looked upon as a Madonna by most of the FRench audience became one the most disgusting criminals an actress had ever played.Since he watered down his wine and subsequent works were much more moderate ("Lacenaire""la banquière") when they were not drastic failures ("descente aux enfers" " passage à l'acte"."Mauvais genres " is a return to form for Girod.He has never been so nefarious since his debut.Two actors give stunning performances:Robinson Stevenin plays a transvestite ,a part so difficult -he is on the screen from the beginning to the end- it's a miracle he could pull it off so brilliantly.But Richard Bohringer's cop is even more impressive:his character speaks in a croaking voice ,close to a whisper.Meava the transsexual is probably the most humane character in the whole movie.The plot is so complex it will demand several viewings.A lot of elements interfere :a serial killer who kills male and female prostitutes ,a transvestite whose father has just been arrested for pedophilia -which might or might not lead his son (Stevenin) whom he abused to lead such a life-; the "sens interdit" (one-way street) gay club where you can see a drag act , the "twin duet" featured in Demy 's "les demoiselles de Rochefort" ;elements of melodrama : the past of the characters recalls those endless novels from the nineteenth century when the characters did not know exactly who their father was;and a love the hero feels for a so-called straight mover (who's also a gigolo) .But more than the story,it's the atmosphere which matters.Girod creates a destabilizing world which leaves the viewer panting for breath.And it's not sexist.The monsters are not necessarily the non-straights.