Crossing · reception & legacy
2024 · Levan Akin
How Crossing has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Premiered in Berlinale's Panorama section in 2024 to near-unanimous acclaim (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and took the Teddy jury prize; since hitting MUBI it's grown from festival darling into a word-of-mouth favourite that cemented Levan Akin as more than a one-film (And Then We Danced) director.
What's debated
The debate is the ending — Akin himself has called it risky, and viewers split over whether its bold final swerve is transcendent or a break from the film's grounded realism.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd-beloved entry in the 2020s queer canon — the 'if you loved And Then We Danced' follow-up that's quietly becoming a touchstone of contemporary trans-solidarity cinema.
Named by the director
Influences Levan Akin has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.
- Pier Paolo Pasolini — Akin cited the Italian neorealists, naming Pasolini, saying they 'capture an essence, like a spark' — what he wanted for both And Then We Danced and Crossing.
- Federico Fellini — Named alongside Pasolini as the neorealist-era filmmakers whose essence-capturing approach he drew on for this film.