“Anything’s Possible” is Billy Porter’s Directorial Debut

The “Pose” star, and pop singer Billy Porter makes his directorial debut with the launch of “Anything’s Possible” on Amazon Prime Video. The movie is a feel good, coming-of-age story about the young love between Kelsa, played by Eva Reign, and Khal, played by Abubakr Ali. The movie’s trailer will make you feel the familiar squirm of texting the wrong thing to your crush as Khal sends an unflatterring double-chin selfie to his crush, Kelsa. And of course, there is the familiar feeling of wanting to melt when a friend’s crush gives you flowers instead because he likes you instead of her — all the while the entire school cafeteria is, for some reason, starring at all of you. But of course, comes the giddy feeling for first love. “For the first time in my life … I truly feel anything’s possible,” Kelsa says in the movie’s trailer.

But perhaps the significance of this Billy Porter film lies in the fact that a Black teen trans, and a Middle-Eastern straight teen are at the center of this love story. And the movie’s main conflict revolves around this as well. Khal needed to find the confidence to pursue his attraction towards a trans woman whom even his best friend cannot see as desirable to a straight man. And the two also finds pushback from those around them who couldn’t comprehend their relationship. The film is part of a growing number of movies that puts the diverse gender identities at the center of the Hollywood formula for coming-of-age movies, and romantic comedies — focusing on the light, giddy aspect of love rather than the grim, and traumatic aspects LGBTQ+ relationships that characterized early films that tackled it.