In Boys Don't Cry, Brandon Teena (Swank in a compelling, Oscar-winning performance) is a young woman who lives her life as a young man. When Brandon moves from Lincoln, Nebraska to the small town of Falls City, he falls in with a rough crowd and finds love with beautiful Lana (Sevigny) and trouble with thuggish ex-cons John (Sarsgaard) and Tom (Brendan Sexton III). The eventual revelation of Brandon's secret precipitates violence and tragedy, and the emotional conclusion is made even more powerful by the fact that the film is based on real-life events.