An ex-con is released from jail and heads home to his wife and son in a working class Puerto Rican area of the Bronx. Things are clearly not the same as when he left – his wife is distant and his son is positively remote. It’s obvious both have moved on during his absence, but what’s really going on?

Green’s film is a powerhouse of extraordinary performances and well-wrought scenarios, stirring up a cauldron of sensitivities. Central is the tussle between Enrique (Esai Morales from Miami Vice and NYPD Blue) and his son Michael (brilliantly played by transgender actor Harmony Santana). Michael’s quiet journey towards, ultimately, gender reassignment has begun, with his mother Angela (Judy Reyes from Fame) a silent but supportive defender. In contrast Enrique’s forceful, simplistic view to life, especially masculinity, shatters the unspoken status quo that mother and son have established, breaking open Pandora’s Box. Other issues tumble out, exposing hypocrisies long buried. Better even than the superb cinematography and layered script are the performances. Harmony Santana, one of only a handful of transgender actors in the world, is utterly riveting as Michael (and Vanessa), and scenes of his evening transformations are gentle, beautiful and deeply affecting. Morales too manages to balance Latino butch with moments of delicacy, and Reyes weighs love and fear with the expertise of a master. It is not hard to see why Gun Hill Road was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Green’s social drama speaks to many people on many levels. Unmissable.