The film fails to break the pattern of transphobic narratives in cinema, perhaps because it doesn't understand that trans people are not the same as cis gay people.

Sometimes a character punches through the screen, beyond the film containing him. Matthew McConaughey's performance as an HIV-positive cowboy in Dallas Buyers Club is one of those moments.

Though Jean-Marc Valle's direction is sometimes indistinct, it does allow the actors to come off more inhibited in their performances and each scene is that much more authentic.

Lingering long after the lights draw up, 'Dallas Buyers Club' passes on an invaluable lesson: everything we have can be taken from us in an instant.