Ivan & Hadoum (2026) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for music
Take a Drink: for new languages
Take a Drink: for heartwarming moments
Take a Drink: whenever anyone advises against their relationship
Take a Drink: whenever the visit of the auditors comes up
Do a Shot: for racism, sexism, or trans-phobia
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
While social and cultural issues are the dividing lines that keep us peons at each others’ throats, the only substantive differences between us are and always have been economic.
Ivan & Hadoum tracks the early romance of our two titular characters, before it is threatened by Ivan’s difficult position as both Hadoum’s boyfriend and part of the family that owns the factory they both work at, and are seeking to sell to the clear detriment of their employees.
A Toast
Director Ian de la Rosa, himself trans, creates a film of naturalistic conversations and situations that feel true to life, one that seeks to tell a story not necessarily about the trans identity of its protagonist, but more a story of simple love and humanity that happens to feature one. It’s a universal story, from the sweet, almost bashful beginnings to the Ivan and Hadoum’s romance to the ways in which choosing between love and family, duty and freedom, can put us all in impossible situations. Ivan’s trans identity can’t be avoided socially, but is really nothing at all to those that matter, and the film follows suit, at least until family disagreements prompt some to show how they really feel.
After a rather pleasant but still clear-eyed initial meet-cute and romance, tension arises from Ivan being elevated to the manager’s position he’s been seeking at his uncle’s factory and the solidarity among Hadoum’s fellow immigrant workers he’s now part of the management of. This tension evolves into proper division as he’s forced to choose between supporting them in the sale of the factory that his poorer side of the family really needs to improve their circumstances, and not inhibiting Hadoum in the collective action she’s organizing for when inspectors are due to come.
Through it all, de la Rosa stays focused on his characters and their natural reactions to the circumstances in which they’re thrust, even when they put them at odds with those they love.
Beer Two
Is it just me, or was Hadoum’s supposedly captivating (to Ivan, at least) karaoke performance actually rather grating?
Verdict
Ivan & Hadoum is a relatable story of both romance and economic division between a trans Spanish man and a Moroccan woman.
