The following review includes heavy spoilers for HBO’s We Are Who We Are.

The Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Lesbian Cinema.

LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now.

Each role has been thought through with a little more dignity and care than expected the film wins a game of inches. Newton adds compelling character dimension for everyone in the supporting cast: Smits as a veteran public defender who both encourages the much less experienced Jess and braces her with a splash of cold water when necessary Zachary Quinto as a local barfly who turns a one-night-stand with Beth into a more lasting partnership, but struggles with PTSD after multiple tours in Afghanistan and Thompson and Weixler as women who set themselves against our two heroines, but not to the point where their concerns are delegitimized. She finds it in Beth, another beleaguered fighter looking for the path forward. After a tragic setback at the office leaves her questioning her career path, Jess looks for a case that will reignite her conviction. Jess loves the work and fights tenaciously for her clients, but she clashes constantly with her mother ( Lea Thompson), who feels the long hours and lousy pay are a waste of a law degree. Meanwhile, at the same public defense clinic where Beth’s case is being handled, Jess (Roberts) is busy representing a juvenile inmate who’s offered a scholarship to finish her high-school education, but gets some pushback from a judge who’s worried about her propensity toward violence. She may be in the right, but her tempestuous personality constantly threatens to be her undoing. Her troubled past tends to scare off potential employers, so for now she logs time at a nail salon while pressing her pro-bono attorney ( Jimmy Smits) to argue for a better custody arrangement. Beth has no relationship with the boy, who calls her “Auntie” and treats her like a stranger, and she doesn’t help her case by showing up for unannounced visits and causing a scene.

Recently released from prison after a long stretch, Beth (Nicholson) wants desperately to reconnect with her son, but her sister Gabby (Jess Weixler) and her husband have taken over as the child’s legal guardians and they’re not convinced she’s ready to share custody.

We are who we are review