That is the fate of Alex in XXY, a film with such difficult subject matter it had every possibility of going horribly wrong.

But under the directorial hands of Lucia Puenzo, hermaphoditism and its effects on the family and the whole community is given a sensitive and thought-provoking take.

Alex has been brought up as a girl, albeit a tomboy, by parents Suli and Kraken, in Argentina.

At the age of 15, she has been moved away from Bueonas Aires to a beach house in a small fishing community in Uruguay to protect her.

A typically moody teenager, she has been expelled from school for hitting her best friend.

But Alex has deeper problems to contend with than most youngsters and wants to find out the truth about her sexual leanings.

Suli invites friends to stay, including Ramiro, a plastic surgeon she hopes will help her daughter.

Young Inés Efron gives a remarkable performance as Alex, capturing the character and emotions of someone in the process of learning about herself and those she can trust around her.

Valeria Bertuchelli and Ricardo Darin complement each other well as her concerned parents, with opposing views on what's best for Alex.

Ramiro's son, played by Martin Piroyansky, is also trying to get through his own issues of sexuality and his battle with his own feelings is well portrayed.

The very subject matter makes it not an easy film to watch but there's no doubting why XXY won the Cannes Festival International Critics' Week Grand Prize.

It was also chosen to represent Argentina at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Spain's Goya Awards for Best Foreign Film in Spanish.

XXY (15) is at Brighton's Duke of York Cinema from May 16 to 21. For show times and tickets, click here

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