Heightened Scrutiny
“Though Heightened Scrutiny lacks the polish of the filmmakers’ previous film, its urgency overrides that detraction.”
Title: Heightened Scrutiny (2025)
Director: Sam Feder 🧑🏼🇺🇸🌈
Producers: Amy Scholder 👩🏼🇺🇸 and Paola Mendoza 👩🏽🇨🇴🇺🇸
Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸
Technical: 3/5
From the filmmakers behind the fantastic 2020 documentary Disclosure, which explored transgender representation in movies, Sam Feder and Amy Scholder premiered their follow-up Heightened Scrutiny at Sundance Film Festival yesterday afternoon. This urgent call to action also tackles trans oppression, but rather than Disclosure’s longer look at almost a century’s worth of trans narratives in media, Heightened Scrutiny zeroes in on a single, timely topic: a Supreme Court battle to overturn Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth, L.W. v. Skrmetti, which is currently in deliberation.
With strong clarity of purpose, Feder and Scholder follow the documentary’s protagonist, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Chase Strangio, the first known trans lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court. Scenes range from casual character studies, such as a low-key presidential debate viewing party at Strangio’s home with a few friends, to behind-the-scenes prep for Strangio’s oral arguments which took place last month on December 4, 2024.
The powerful subject matter around kids’ access to healthcare, and around the undue power of news outlets and op-eds to influence judiciary leanings, makes an inherently interesting watch. But the conventional modes of storytelling, where a camera hovers behind a clever hero and seated interviews lend context to the action, make the documentary more of a workhorse than a vehicle for artistic expression or entertainment.
To be fair, a scene showing a rally gathered in front of the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in support of trans youth rouses the emotions. But despite the importance of the subject matter, Heightened Scrutiny’s cerebral, talky approach softens its punch.
Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES, but barely
For a film that’s entirely centered around trans rights, Heightened Scrutiny easily passes with flying colors in this category. Moreover, the film deftly ties its fight for equal access to puberty blockers and hormones to the broader war being waged on reproductive rights, as evidenced by Roe v. Wade’s shocking overruling in 2022. By connecting L.W. v. Skrmetti to the larger crisis of equal access to American healthcare, Feder and Scholder widen the aperture of their story, allowing its message to resonate more loudly.
Race: 3/5
It’s impossible to separate race from trans history, given the fundamental role that Black and Latino pioneers have played in the movement, both politically and culturally. But Heightened Scrutiny was directed and produced by white filmmakers, follows a white attorney, and avoids any mention of race in its discussions.
A film doesn’t need to say and do everything to be progressive, but some racial context could've come up naturally in a couple of spots to make Heightened Scrutiny more intersectional. For example, Strangio describes the effects of statewide bans on gender-affirming care, when not everyone can travel hundreds of miles just for a doctor’s visit. What remains unsaid is that Black and brown kids are disproportionately affected by these bans for a variety of reasons, including demographics—a higher share of trans people are Black and Hispanic as compared to the U.S. population—as well as socioeconomic status, with Indigenous and Latino Americans among the most disadvantaged in 2024.
That said, the cast itself is diverse. Journalists and activists of color appear regularly as interviewees, including Jelani Cobb (who’s Black), Laverne Cox (Black), Gina Chua (Singaporean), and others. In addition, the film features an immigrant woman, Maria, and her daughter Mila, a 12-year-old girl who's proudly trans and who gives a moving speech at a rally outside of the Supreme Court. These people show that the LGBTQ community is racially diverse, even if the documentary doesn't delve into the unique impacts of anti-trans policies on people of color.
Bonus for LGBTQ: +1.00
The entire point of this documentary is to advocate for trans rights. It does this in two ways: By following Strangio on a crucial Supreme Court case defending healthcare for trans youth, and also by highlighting transphobic media narratives peddled by even supposedly liberal outlets like The New York Times and The Atlantic.
Mediaversity Grade: B 4.00/5
If Disclosure was a hopeful moment for trans visibility, Heightened Scrutiny pauses to take stock of the virulent backlash that has since risen up against LGBTQ communities. Though it lacks the polish of Feder’s previous film, its urgency overrides that detraction. As a method for sharing information, Heightened Scrutiny gamely gets the job done. All eyes now turn to the Supreme Court, as we wait for their ruling on L.W. v. Skrmetti later this year.
Like Heightened Scrutiny? Try these other courtroom films.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)