Union

Apparently, at least 400 women fought as men during the Civil War, but the perplexing "Union" is not the exploration they deserve.

Overall, Union is a valuable addition to the underrepresented genre of LGBTQIA+ historical cinema.

Slow, too-long Civil War romance has violence and gore.

Civil War enthusiasts will be drawn to the level of detail that goes into the reenactments... [others] will be drawn to the unconventional love story.

In the end, "Union" tells an unusual story of trying to live peacefully within a war climate, where love is a luxury to be hidden and always being on guard becomes a way of life.

Viewers with a specific interest in the period or themes might still find it worth watching, and there's some good costume work, but it struggles to hold the attention purely as a piece of drama.

The film has its moments but the canvas is too sprawling to give them the chance to effectively emerge.

The overall story remains compelling even if some individual scenes lag.

There have always been people who have not felt comfortable in the bodies they were born in and sought to live their lives as their true gender. Director/screenwriter/actress Whitney Hamilton examines an example of just that in the film Union.