Michelle Rodriguez Thriller '(Re)Assignment' Labeled Transphobic, Panned By Critics

A new thriller starring Michelle Rodriguez debuted at the Toronto Film Festival this week and it's come under fire for being transphobic. On top of that, it is being slammed by critics.

"(Re)Assignment" is about a male hitman named Frank Kitchen, played by Rodriguez, who is forced to undergo sex reassignment surgery as part of a revenge scheme by a "rogue surgeon" known as the Doctor, who is played by Sigourney Weaver. IMDb's description for the plot adds, the "hitman, now a hitwoman, sets out for revenge."

Stills from the film showing Rodriguez sporting a beard popped up online last month, sparking many in the trans community to share the hashtag #boycottreassignment, Mic.com points out. A Twitter backlash has since ensued.

Last year, TMZ reported GLAAD was upset over the movie's premise. Rodriguez, however, felt differently and said she doesn't think "(Re)Assignment," which was once titled "Tomby," will set back trans rights.

"If anything, it's freakin' promoting it," she told TMZ at the time. "No press is bad press, baby. I remember a day when white people were playing black people. It's just about the evolution.

"Thank Kris Jenner for becoming who he became," she added, confusing Caitlyn Jenner for ex-wife Kris Jenner. "And now you have a popular subject matter that nobody wanted to make a movie about, and now everybody's on it."

More recently, the actress took to Instagram Tuesday, posting a selfie from what appears to be set of "(Re)Assignment," and talked about making the film, which she said was "in the B-Movie genre, a culture shock pic, shot like a 'film Noir' graphic novel."

She added:

In retrospect I'm I glad took the plunge, the industry seems to be running low on edgy creativity & 'real take a chance' controversy, sometimes it makes me want to scream, instead I did what I always do when I'm bored with the 'status quo', I shot crazy b movie Indy to express my frustration.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rodriguez reiterated her thoughts, defending the film and saying it's a genre piece and not an examination of trans people, telling critics to "lay off" and "calm down."

"I'm on your team," she added with a laugh.

The clip also features Rodriguez and director Walter Hill debating about the film's title. Both want it to be "Tomboy: A Revenger's Tale" and not "(Re)Assignment."

On top of the controversial plot, "(Re)Assignment" is being panned by critics. Vulture writer Kyle Buchanan recently wrote "...In the year 2016, a movie that treats gender-reassignment as the ultimate karmic punishment for mass murder might be a little out of step with the times. Trans people have already begun protesting the film on Twitter, and I suspect they'll soon be joined by fans of good cinema."

Variety's Dennis Harvey wrote both Rodriguez and Weaver gave terrible performances, adding, "That flat air allows no sense of ironic distance to leaven some laughably clunky dialogue, which defies two lead thesps who might have made something even of this preposterous concept if they'd been given a more deft, layered script."

The BBC's Sam Adams wrote a piece on the film, giving it one out of five stars. The Guardian's Benjamin Lee also gave it one out of five stars, calling "(Re)Assignment" "a strong contender for 2016's worst movie." Lee added: "Tone-deaf in every possible way and made with such haphazard indolence that it feels as if it might have been made for an ambitious dare, '(Re)Assignment" is a sewage-stained gift for bad movie fans."

A similar narrative occurred earlier this month when it was announced Matt Bomer would play a transgender woman who is a sex working in a new film. After a social media outcry, Mark Ruffalo, who is co-produced "Anything," responded to the outrage on Twitter

"To the Trans community," he wrote. "I hear you. It's wrenching to you see you in this pain. I am glad we are having this conversation. It's time."

Similar backlash occurred with Eddie Redmayne, who played a trans woman in "The Danish Girl" and earned an Oscar nomination, and Jared Leto, who played a trans woman in "Dallas Buyers Club."

"(Re)Assignment" has no U.S. release date yet.

[H/T Mic.com]