Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf
The extraordinary life of the English model and trans activist makes for an engaging and decidedly worthwhile documentary.
Image courtesy of Cinematik.
In the last few years, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui have come to the fore as outstanding documentarian filmmakers having given us McQueen (2018), Rising Phoenix (2020) and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024). Now we have this piece about the trans activist and model Munroe Bergdorf which finds them both acting as executive producers while the direction of it is in the hands of Olivia Cappuccini, this being her second feature following one about Andy Murray. It is not quite on the level of the three works mentioned above, but it is nevertheless a well-made and decidedly worthwhile documentary. The great surprise of the film is that it shows Munroe Bergdorf despite past controversies to be a very engaging person able to communicate with the audience in a way that is winning rather than in any way personally confrontational.
Munroe Bergdorf would begin gender transitioning at the age of twenty-four having been born in Essex in 1987 and brought up as male. Her career since then has been remarkable in several respects. The child of a Jamaican father and an English mother, she would find herself at home in the LGBTQIA+ community (when studying English at the University of Brighton she already identified as gender queer). Munroe went on to what soon became a striking career in modelling. In 2017 she was approached by L’Oréal to become their first transgender model in the UK and the following year Cosmopolitan UK named her changemaker of the year. Then in 2019 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Brighton, was made an ambassador for Childline and became an advocate for UN Women and its campaign to stop female genital mutilation. Subsequently in 2023 UN Women named her their first UK champion. By then she had also appeared on numerous magazine covers including British Vogue.
However, what might sound like an unproblematic success story had another side to it. Not only did her increasing involvement in trans activism become such a large and demanding part of her life that it came to threaten her mental health but she also found herself involved in bitter controversies. Being taken up by L'Oréal had been a big deal but they quickly dropped her after she was accused of hate speech after declaring that all white women as a group are brought up racist yet owed so much to people of colour. Accusing whites of being the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth was for her a calling out of white supremacy and privilege, but media figures such as Piers Morgan saw her remarks as worsening the tensions that existed. Furthermore, her reputation became such that the NSPCC reconsidered and decided to cut her off from her role as ambassador for Childline, an action which she blamed on transphobia. However, in later years under a new president L’Oréal would apologise and renew their connection with her.
In this difficult period Munroe Bergdorf did find the love of her life in Ava who features briefly in this film in re-enacted scenes – there are also similar episodes representing Munroe's childhood years when the child was told off for being too feminine and was desperate enough at the age of eight to run away from home. But the worst times were when her notoriety led to widespread abuse and fed in her a growing sense that she was undeserving of Ava. This would contribute to their break-up. Much later the news that Ava was dead and had committed suicide came as a terrible shock, but it would also contribute in time to Munroe determining not to live in fear and to keep on fighting and bring about change. She has now published an autobiography which is dedicated to Ava as is this film.
Cappuccini’s documentary includes contributions from a number of people close to Munroe Bergdorf, including Reece King, a friend as close as any brother, and the two people who would manage her career, Justin Girdler and Kim Butler who clearly admire her greatly. These people are in her eyes members of her chosen family. But quite rightly it is she herself who is screen centre describing her life, acknowledging her bad times as well as the good but always asserting her belief in the need to speak out strongly and positively for trans people. This is set alongside the enacted scenes which illustrate what Munroe is telling us and it could be argued that Cappuccini rather overdoes the brief flashback shots of the actor Jayden Smith which continue to recur as a reminder of her childhood years. Nevertheless, they point up how far Munroe has come and what an extraordinary life hers is. But the prime virtue of the film is that Munroe Bergdorf speaks so directly almost as though she is engaged in a conversation with the viewer. At a time when particular issues related to trans people have divided opinion and could unfortunately affect how such individuals are seen, it is most apt to have this film in which Munroe’s comments simply invite the viewer to share her life story, one individual’s experience conveyed to others through the medium of film.
It should be noted that the UK release on 10th June is currently centred on screenings on that date and on 11th June at selected cinemas.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Munroe Bergdorf, Reece King, Justin Girdler, Kim Butler and in acting roles Jayden Smith, Violet Ri, Janna Fox, Riccardo Bramwell, Joey Morris and Hugh Wyld.
Dir Olivia Cappuccini, Pro Andee Ryder and Sofia Ismail Martin, Drama Unit Screenplay Amrou Al-Kadhi, Ph Olivia Cappuccini, Pro Des Paix Robinson, Ed Sarah Keeling and David Charap, Music Nainita Desai, Costumes Paix Robinson.
Misfits Entertainment/Universal Pictures Content Group-Cinematik.
82 mins. UK. 2025. UK Rel: 10 June 2025. Cert. 15.
