Surfaces appear diamond-hard in this modern melodrama, but expensive looks can be deceiving. Gliding through white middle-class America with serene sadness, actor Dina Korzun is astonishing as a detached interloper in Ira Sachs’s masterful film of betrayal, heartache, and hushed ecstasy.

Anchored by a magnetic central performance, this free-form short captures both the thrill and isolation of New York City life. Ira Sachs borrows from cinéma vérité and TV melodrama to craft an intimate and intriguing portrait of a woman grappling with her own uncertain sexuality and gender identity.