Wild Side

Named after "Walk on the Wild Side," Lou Reed's classic song about New York City's fringe dwellers, French director Sebastien Lifshitz's third feature is a sensitive, nonexploitative portrayal of a striking Parisian transsexual prostitute who must confront her troubled present and haunted past when her mother falls seriously ill. After getting the call that her mother (Josiane Stoleru) has been rushed to the hospital, 32-year-old Stephanie (Stephanie Michelini) returns to the small farmhouse she left years ago, when she was a boy of 15 named Pierre. She hasn't been back since, and while her mother has made peace with Stephanie's gender switch, she still misses "Pierr...