On Pluto — Breakfast

At its heart, Breakfast on Pluto is a picaresque tale about a young trans woman searching for her mother and a place to belong. Abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of a rectory in the fictional Irish town of Tyrellin, Patrick grows up in a world that is gray, rigid, and increasingly violent. However, Patrick refuses to be gray. Adopting the name Pussy, she navigates the 1970s with a mix of high-glam fashion, sharp wit, and an almost otherworldly detachment from the political chaos surrounding her.

When you first hear the phrase "Breakfast on Pluto," your mind might drift to a surreal, sci-fi landscape—perhaps a silver-domed space station with floating cutlery and alien waiters. In reality, Breakfast on Pluto is something far more intimate, chaotic, and deeply human. Released in 2005 and directed by Neil Jordan, the film is an adaptation of Patrick McCabe’s 1998 novel of the same name. It is a glitter bomb of a movie—part tragic Irish odyssey, part psychedelic pop musical, and entirely a landmark piece of queer cinema.

Director Neil Jordan said that upon seeing Murphy’s audition, he realized he hadn’t just found an actor; he had found the soul of the film.