the wrong bathroom (short)
How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to fit in?
Would you betray your own morals?
Would you betray a friend? These are age-old questions, especially when it comes to the cutthroat atmosphere of high school. But Wrong Bathroom, Ragini Bhasin’s 2023 short film, manages to find a fresh and emotionally affecting take on a well-trodden story, as a transgender student encounters unexpected social pressure when he uses the men’s restroom at school for the first time. Gabe, in a busy hallway, slowly gathers his clothes for gym class when he’s approached by his friend Leslie. Already in her gym gear, she’s just gotten her period and begs Gabe for his overshirt to hide the stain on her shorts. She offers to have Gabe join her in the girls’ locker room to change, but he insists he’s fine. After a steadying sip of water from the fountain, he screws up the courage and makes his way into the men’s room. While changing in a stall, two stoners enter the bathroom, where conversation quickly turns to the sexual exploits of the girls in their class, focusing on Leslie.
When an ill-timed flush exposes Gabe, he’s suddenly brought into the conversation, where he must decide if he’s going to become one of the boys. Bhasin and writer Nate Gualtieri have done an excellent job navigating a few hot-button issues while keeping a naturalistic and engaging style that never feels moralistic. When Gabe goes into the bathroom, his stress seems to telegraph a dramatic confrontation, and possibly even a hate crime.
The script smartly sidesteps that cliché while using that tension to its favor when drawing Gabe further into his emotional conflict. Kris Kouke’s cinematography provides both intimacy and anxiety as it favors tight frames, underscoring the stifling pressure that thrums through the run of the film.
We track Gabe’s face in a series of closeups throughout, letting his emotional state drive the tone, while his classmates are more often depicted as a jangle of body parts, suggesting a simultaneous fear and allure of masculinity. In fact, all of the production elements work together perfectly to establish a setting that screams teenage boy, down to the dirty toilets in the stalls. Benny Zielke gives a beautifully understated performance as Gabe. He deftly handles every emotional twist and turn, from the fear of being unsafe in a new environment, to the unexpected joy of instead being welcomed, and finally to the pressure of expectation as his new allies ask him to share the details of his friend’s sex life. Wrong Bathroom is a beautifully heartbreaking slice of life, a cautionary tale about toxic masculinity told with warmth and care.
