''Two 4 One'' is a 2014 Canadian

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film"Two 4 One and the accidental pregnancy"
''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'', September 29, 2014. that marks the debut of Victoria,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

filmmaker Maureen Bradley."Victoria filmmaker aims to transcend transgender cliché"
''

Victoria Times-Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the September 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ' ...

'', November 21, 2013. The film stars

Gavin Crawford Gavin Crawford (born 2 April 1971) is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for ''The Gavin Crawford Show'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He currently hosts the panel show, ''Because News'', on CBC Radio One. Early life Crawford was bo ...

as Adam, a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

who agrees to have a one-night stand with his ex-girlfriend Miriam ( Naomi Snieckus) during which he uses a mail order at-home pregnancy kit to artificially inseminate her with donated sperm. However, an accident during the encounter leaves both Adam and Miriam pregnant, forcing Adam, who has not yet completed the surgical phase of his gender transition, to confront the ways in which the pregnancy will influence his sense of gender identity. After premiering on September 21, 2014 at the

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. In 2020, thei ...

.,"Man becomes pregnant in Calgary film fest movie"
. ''

Calgary Sun The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is currently owned by Postmedia Network. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily newspaper replaced the long-running tabloid-size ''The Albertan'' soon ...

'', September 20, 2014. the film gained traction among the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community and extended its screenings to

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

and LGBT film festivals across North America and the UK. It received multiple nominations for the 2015

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

and won three best film awards that same year.

Cast

as Adam/Melanie * Naomi Snieckus as Miriam * Gabrielle Rose as Franny, Adam's mother *

Andrea Menard Andrea Menard is a Canadian actress, playwright, and jazz singer. Early life Menard was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba and based in Saskatchewan. Career Menard, who is of Métis descent, is best known for her work on the television series '' Mocca ...

as Julia * Matt Baram as Brian * Chris Mackie as Fitch *Matt Hamilton as Duncan *Dean Wray as Sylvain *Demelza Randall as Sarah * Christine Willes as Dr. Sharp *Karen Brelsford as Dr. Beck

Production

Development

''Two 4 One'' is loosely inspired by the real-life pregnancy of Thomas Beatie, a trans man who gave birth to three children between 2008-2010 in place of his infertile wife. After undergoing

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associat ...

on his chest region, but keeping his internal reproductive organs intact, Beatie and his wife used artificial insemination and donated sperm to impregnate Beatie in 2007. Bradley used Beatie's pregnancy as a scientific basis from which to build the fictional plot of ''Two 4 One'', adding in the element of an ''accidental'' pregnancy to contrast the film's theme of sexual identity.

Filming

Financial backing for the film was contributed by

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...

, National Screen Institute, and the BC Arts Council, as well as a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

campaign on

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

. Due to a limited budget and 15-day filming window, Bradley's choice to film in her hometown was both inevitable and serendipitous, with Victoria's coastal backdrop being a key feature to the film's theme of existential questioning.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews, with some praising Bradley for creating an honest and dynamic portray of the struggles faced by the transgender community, and others criticising her use of humor as a vehicle for discussing serious transgender issues. Writing for the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', Rebecca Tucker states that by placing the focus of the film on Adam and Miriam's love story, rather than Adam's sexual reassignment surgery, is "what makes the film work ... The habit f filmto focus specifically on transition –on treating the bodies’ of trans people as physical curiosities open for discussion –is wickedly dehumanizing." Bradley’s highlighting of a transgender character within "the greater context of humane experience, not just trans experience, is important particularly as a means of garnering greater acceptance, understanding, and tolerance: simply put, it communicates rather bluntly that trans people are people, too." Brad Wheeler of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' also gave the film a three out of four stars rating, stating that while "the acting is uniformly unforced and the tone is gentle throughout the turns" there is fault in how the "highly awkward situations are resolved with an efficiency that is more wishful thinking than reality." Susan G. Cole, a feminist writer for '' NOW Magazine'', describes the film as having issues with tone, stating: "this is supposed to be a comedy, but the struggles of transgendered people are very real and not funny. And writer/director Bradley gives us an easy ending that makes it look like transphobia doesn’t exist."

Accolades

At the 2015

, ''Two 4 One'' received 5 nominations, including: Best Motion Picture, Best Director (for Bradley), Best Screenplay (for Bradley), Best Casting, and Best Costume Design.Leo Awards (Retrieved on March 28, 2018). “Winners & Nominees”, Retrieved from http://www.leoawards.com/winners_and_nominees/ At the 2015 Available Light Film Festival, Victoria Film Festival, and

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

, the film won Best Feature/Canadian Fiction Film.Two 4 One (Retrieved on March 28, 2018). “Awards”, Retrieved from http://two4onefilm.com/awards/ Additional awards include Outstanding Performance, Male Category, for Gavin Crawford at the ACTRA Toronto Awards, and a nomination for Best Emerging BC Filmmaker for Maureen Bradely at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film gained international recognition through screenings across North America and the UK, garnering award nominations and wins at: Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival (Audience Award for Best Comedy), Chicago International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Special Jury Prize), and Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival (Audience Award for Best Feature Film).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 3516184 *
Two 4 One
' at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films 2014 LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian LGBTQ-related films English-language Canadian films Films about trans men Indiegogo projects 2010s pregnancy films Crowdfunded films 2014 directorial debut films Canadian pregnancy films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language comedy-drama films