Tiresia

Tiresia is a drama drawing on the Greek myth of the blind seer who lived as both a man and a woman. In a present-day setting, a Brazilian transgender woman lives illegally with her brother on the outskirts of Paris. A poetry-loving aesthete named Terranova encounters her and becomes fixated on her, eventually abducting her so that she will belong to him alone. Cut off from the hormones she depends on, her body changes, and the man, unable to accept what she has become, blinds her and abandons her near a suburban road. A young woman named Anna finds her and nurses her back to health, and during her recovery Tiresia discovers she can foresee the future. Word of the oracle spreads, drawing crowds and the disapproval of the church.

The film was directed by Bertrand Bonello, whose second feature this is, following The Pornographer in 2001; it is the only one of the features listed between 2001 and 2024 with a mythological subject. Bonello wrote the screenplay with Luca Fazzi. Laurent Lucas plays both Terranova and Père François, while the title character is split between Clara Choveaux and Thiago Telès, with Célia Catalifo, Lou Castel and Alex Descas in supporting roles.

Released in 2003 and running 115 minutes, Tiresia is a Canadian-French co-production from ARTE France Cinéma, micro_scope and Haut et Court. On IMDb it holds 6.2 out of 10 from around 1,300 votes, while on TMDB its rating is 5.9 from a much smaller base of 31.