"Make People Live with It”: Sound, Suture, and Transgender Embodiment in Punch Line

The short film Punch Line (dir. Becky Cheatle, 2022, Ireland)—a rare and powerful example of a transgender-themed narrative authored, directed, and acted by transgender filmmakers—offers an expanded vision of trans-ness and broadens the possibilities for cinematic suture. The film not only defies the stereotypical tropes and images often found in stories depicting transgender characters produced by cisgender filmmakers but also challenges the taken for granted assumption that works of art dealing with marginalized people must also take on an educational role for non-marginalized audiences. In this essay, I demonstrate how Punch Line’s creative technique of suture through internal diegetic sound and its narrative structure allow for a unique aesthetic experience of, rather than simply an education on, transgender embodiment.