Some films ask for your attention. CALL ME MICKY grabs you by the hand, pulls you onto the dance floor and refuses to let go. Director Andrew Rasmussen’s 22-minute documentary short about Micky Angelo Petrillo, the larger-than-life New Jersey native who transitioned at 59, is funny, fearless and full of heart, and it is one of the most joyful films about trans life you are likely to see this year.
What makes CALL ME MICKY so special is where it chooses to look. So many stories about transition treat it as the grand finale, the moment the credits roll. This film begins where those stories end. It asks what comes after, when becoming yourself is no longer the destination but the starting line. The answer, in Micky’s case, is a life lived at full volume: Pride celebrations, open mics, storytelling, and long, loving, laughter-filled time with the friends who have walked beside him. It is a bold choice, and it pays off beautifully. The film is not about what Micky lost in all those years of waiting. It is about everything he is finally gaining.
And what a subject he is. Micky is a born entertainer, quick with a joke, generous with his feelings and utterly unafraid of the camera. His motto is “It’s never too late to become yourself,” and he lives it in every frame. Yet beneath the humor sits a radical honesty that gives the film its real power. Micky allows himself to be completely vulnerable, and that vulnerability is a gift to every viewer, trans or not, who has ever wondered whether it was too late to change their life.
The film’s emotional centerpiece is an intimate conversation between Micky and executive producer Dominique Jackson, the luminous star of FX’s POSE. Jackson, one of the most important voices for transgender visibility in entertainment, sits down with Micky to talk about identity, visibility and what it really means to live openly as yourself. Two trans voices, speaking with warmth and candor, make for a moment of real grace. It is the kind of scene that stays with you long after the screen goes dark.
Rasmussen, a longtime friend of Micky’s and co-founder of the New York production company CARDINAL, directs with affection and restraint, letting his subject’s personality drive the story rather than dressing it up. The result feels less like a documentary and more like an afternoon spent with a dear friend who happens to have an extraordinary story to tell. Familiar faces from Micky’s world, including Ike Avelli, Jackson Sturkey, Wendy Stuart and Billy Hess, round out the portrait with the kind of love that only longtime friends can offer. A lively score from Sturkey & Studabaker, Carla Refolo, Peter Joseph and Pyramada, with sound design by Shooting Star Sound, keeps the energy buoyant from start to finish.
At just 22 minutes, CALL ME MICKY never wastes a second, and it leaves you wanting more. Luckily, there is more. Micky is also the author of the memoir Walking the Earth: First as a Woman, Then a Man, and he continues to share his story at panels, conferences and community events across the country.
Festival audiences have already discovered what a treasure this film is. This September alone, CALL ME MICKY screened at the Susquehanna LGBTQ Film Festival, the Fire Island NY Transgender Film Festival, the Newark International Film Festival and, as an Official Selection, at Reel Pride Fresno. It deserves to be seen far and wide, and at a time when trans lives are too often met with hostility, its message of joy and visibility could not be more urgent.
CALL ME MICKY is a triumph: tender, hilarious and bursting with life. It reminds us that there is no deadline on authenticity, and that the best chapters of a life can begin at any age. Do yourself a favor and seek it out. And when you meet the man at its center, do exactly what the title asks. Call him Micky.
Watch the official trailer for “Call Me Micky” on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/jy4FQC-0QuY?si=96r3_tQZ14wJtBxc
Official Website:
https://www.callmemickyfilm.com