Karl Foyles and Paul Prentice were best friends at school in the late seventies. Now they meet again in contemporary London. But Karl is now called Kim, and she doesn’t feel much like confronting the past. She had a sex-change operation a year ago and she longs for a decent organised life. Paul however has never grown up. He works as motorbike courier and still only listens to his new-wave heroes of 15 years before: Wreckless Eric, The Only Ones and The Buzzcocks. His greatest talent is getting in a fix. Yet the two start to see each other regularly. One evening, during an intimate dinner, Paul is amazed to feel attracted to Kim, and doesn’t know what to do with his feelings. In the street he makes a scene and they are both arrested. During the journey to the police station, Paul can’t shut up and is beaten up by the policemen. He is determined not to let the matter rest. Confronted with a court case, Kim sees her protected life threatened.In Different for Girls the transsexual is for a change not the trivialised, flamboyant and extravagant type. Steven Mackintosh convincingly plays the role of the insecure and human Kim. Rupert Graves proves with his role of the he man that his days as a supporting actor are over. Miriam Margolyes as Kim’s boss steals the show in every scene she is in.
