XXY is a sensitively-handled drama from Argentina about a mother and father attempting to protect their teenage daughter who is in the unique position of having been born as a hermaphrodite.

Another family with a young boy comes to stay with them and inevitably the daughter looks to explore her confused sexuality with the young boy.

Meanwhile, the local community has also picked up on the story that someone in their midst is different to everyone else. Curiosity gets the better of some who want to know what being a hermaphrodite physically means, leading to cruelty and the ridiculing of an outsider who is finding it difficult enough already.

I thought the subject matter was poignantly handled, the performances are good and the story pleasantly went a different way from what I expected.

Editing is strong, with well chosen scenes; pared to the bone, in a good way.

There were one or two funny moments too - I wasn't sure if they were intentional - but I'm going to give the director Lucia Puenzo. Look out, for example, for a scene where the parents are deliberating whether their daughter needs an operation on her private parts and in the very next scene, a carrot starts getting chopped! That kind of black humour has to be have been intentional.

The film has been a highlight of the recent London Lesbian and Gay Festival, and the praise it has garnered in various circles seems well-deserved.

It's a welcome addition to the genre of outsiders coping with being different and the subject-matter doesn't fit neatly into the kind of comfortable pockets that Hollywood would insist on.