HBO Max’s ‘Sort Of’ makes gender diversity look easy

Several years ago I read my first nonbinary character in Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth. Gailey wrote them masterfully, just like every other character — because there shouldn’t be major differences and hurdles to more inclusive entertainment. Hollywood is catching up slowly but surely, and HBO Max’s Sort Of is a major step forward in genderfluid visibility.

Created by Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo, Sort Of follows Sabi (Baig) who navigates work, family, and relationships as only a lost millennial can. Despite being the rare (if not unheard of) series with a genderfluid lead, Sort Of doesn’t fixate on its protagonist’s gender and sexuality, thanks to informed and empathetic writing from Baig, Filippo, Jenn Engels, Nelu Handa, and Ian Iqbal Rashid. It is the kind of representation everyone deserves, and Sort Of makes it look easy.

Episode 1 catches Sabi in a perfect storm of inciting incidents: Their partner (Gregory Ambrose Calderone) doesn’t feel seen, their employers want to fire them from nannying, and just when things seem they couldn’t get worse, they run into their mother (Ellora Patnaik) on the street.

7ven (Amanda Calderone) and Sabi (Bilal Bai) in “Sort Of” on HBO Max.
Credit: HBO Max

The supporting cast fills out Sabi’s world nicely, especially an effervescent Amanda Cordner as bestie 7ven and Ellora Patnaik as Sabi’s earnest mother, Raffo. In episode 2, Bessy (Grace Lynn Kung), whose kids Sabi watches, falls into a coma, adding an urgent undercurrent to the rest of the season. No one in Sabi’s world can escape the truth that life is fleeting and precious. So, maybe fixating on labels and baggage isn’t the best use of our limited time here? The disparate threads of Bessy’s condition and Sabi’s relationship with their mother intertwine poignantly in later episodes, eliciting some of the show’s strongest emotional beats.

Though Sort Of is fairly insular — most scenes take place inside someone’s home, a hospital, or the queer bar/bookshop where Sabi works — it crafts a distinct visual landscape. Filippo and Renuka Jeyapalan direct the eight 20-minute episodes with palpable self-assurance, highlighting Chris Crane’s production design and a skillful camera crew. A magnetic soundtrack comes from 5 Point Diamonds, also known as Gay Hollywood, Haviah Mighty, The Kount, Säye Skye, and Truss.

Despite those impressive elements, Sort Of isn’t a primarily production-driven or narrative-driven show. It’s all about character and about that oldest form of resistance, the one that still incites rage: the mere act of marginalized people existing and daring to share their authentic selves. Sabi is figuring out who they are and what they want — just like literally all of us. The show casts an embarrassing light on the absurdity of gender panic and Hollywood’s insistence that representation is so challenging.

“Everyone does whatever they want,” Sabi’s mother says in episode 7. It’s a thought first voiced by their uncle, who dismisses Sabi’s gender. But here, it’s repeated with disbelief bordering on awe. We can do whatever we want, be whoever we want, and why shouldn’t we? Television has the power to reflect that more and more.

Sort Of is now streaming on HBO Max.