Two enticing new films feature protagonists named Sam, a moniker I am – for obvious reasons – particularly attached to.

Both flicks chronicle slow-paced odysseys out of the city. In Good One a father, his high-school-aged daughter, and a friend leave Brooklyn for a three-day hike in the Catskills. Close to You’s Sam travels from Toronto to small town Canada for his dad’s birthday – his first time home since his transition.

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Bucolic scenery and stately pacing create what could be called un-action movies; both offer the viewer a respite from the loud and violent overstimulation of so many mainstream films.

We watch a butterfly alight on a leaf in Good One; we hear somber piano notes blend beautifully with falling rain as Sam painstakingly sifts through old family photos in Close to You.

Emotional risk-taking abounds in both stories. Simply by returning home Sam, a trans man, faces his family’s scrutiny; extreme close-ups reflect that familial scrutiny. This hyper-close examination of anyone who crosses gender borders inevitably brings to mind the Paris Olympics, where athletes were harassed and over-analyzed for any sex/gender non-conformity.

As if our protagonists didn’t have enough to deal with already, they must also serve as caretakers and educators. In Close to You, Sam comforts his mom when she messes up his pronouns. In a scene you might call “Microaggressions for Dummies,” Sam’s sister’s bro-like partner, Paul, drunkenly asks if he can call Sam “Sammy” and then asks “what the rules are.” The use of pre-transition names – “dead” names – can be considered acts of hostility if done intentionally.

In Good One, Sam cooks for her middle-aged dad and his friend and generally looks out for them. But who’s looking out for Sam? Her identity as a queer seventeen-year-old is threatened when her security is tested. Her journey entails coming to terms with a family member’s inability to see and understand her reality.

Close to You and Good One engage with a rapidly changing cultural and political scene. Good One deftly underscores the fact that 81% of women reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lives. And in terms of Close to You, there’s a slate of bills across the nation restricting trans rights and visibility. One hopes the films will bring some much-needed attention to these issues. It’s good to see these matters discussed and experiences shared – while realizing there’s a long way to go before explanation and visibility will no longer be necessary and we can all live our lives truthfully and proudly.

These movies expose how hard it can be to simply be heard and seen as who we are. As Sam’s character in Close to You advises his over-thinking mom: “Let’s breathe deeply.” Respect shouldn’t be that challenging a task.