Two new teen comedies with LGBTQ+ themes are available on digital platforms. They are both breezy, witty, and both feature a strong character actor as its anchor.
Griffin in Summer
Directed by Nicolas Colia
2024. Runtime 90 minutes
Fourteen-year-old Griffin is precocious, mature beyond his years, and testy with those who aren’t. We first meet him at his high school talent show where he introduces the play he’s written, a cross between Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff and American Beauty. He performs both parts in a domestic scene — “They weren’t miscarriages, Walter. They were abortions. They were abortions!!” — to the stunned silence of his middle school peers.
Griffin is home for the summer with his mom. Dad’s away and we learn that’s the basis for Griffin’s new play “Regrets of Autumn.” He’s disgruntled to be rehearsing with kids who would rather be at the beach, until he meets the new handyman, and falls in love. The guy’s a delinquent who uses Griffin to get at the family booze but has artistic aspirations of his own. Griffin casts him in the play and he utterly Brandoes the kids in the cast, to hilarious effect.
Everett Blunck as Griffin is a real find. He’s small and slight but uses that for great comic effect — imagine a medicated Pee Wee Herman — though much more debonair. Everett’s comic delivery and timing are sharp beyond his years. You’ll recognize Owen Teague, who plays Brad the handyman, from his work in Netflix’s Bloodline, HBO’s Task, as well as films like You Hurt My Feelings. The film’s secret weapon is Melanie Lynskey of TV’s Yellowjackets and Candy, and I suspect whose participation helped get the film made. She’s heartbreaking and endearing as Griffin’s unmoored mother Helen.
Griffin in Summer is conventionally structured and takes for granted its subtexts. It’s director Nicolas Colia’s first feature. He goes for simple setups, lets his stars shine, and has a great way with a reaction shot. His script is smart and funny and even poignant when it’s made clear the vitriol in Griffin’s plays is from tirades he’s heard at home.
She’s the He
Directed by Siobhan McCarthy
2025. Runtime 81 minutes
Compared to Griffin in Summer, She’s the He is pure chaos. And that’s the way writer/director Siobhan McCarthy likes it. Feather boas, attitudes and (gulp) tampons are flying. Lifelong pals Ethan and Alex pretend to be trans women to get into the girl’s locker. It’s all in fun and foolery until Ethan realizes he really is trans. Will their friendship survive or are new feelings awakened?
Nico Carney as Alex has a wide-eyed, scrappy charm; he’s a comedian whose standup has appeared on Netflix. Misha Osherovich is an engaging foil who as Ethan is conflicted about her own leanings; she’s been in The Goldfinch and the TV series The Girl in the Woods. Both actors are fun to watch and play off the complications of gender confusion in unexpected ways.
She’s the He is fun, conceived in disorder and awash in laughs. It’s pure punk, a glorious mess: smash cuts, truncated scenes, cringey situations, and rampant hand-drawn captions that burst in on the action. It’s coded to youth and the better for it, by and for Gen Z (you know, for kids…) and introduces an array of young talent, Malia Pyles, Tatiana Ringsby, and Emmett Preciado among them. Familiar character actor Suzanne Cryer of the Silicon Valley, Seinfeld, and Lucky Hank TV series gets to show her stuff as Ethan’s single mother, sexy and maternal at the same time.
Director Siobhan McCarthy is known for shorts and music videos. This is her first feature.