This review contains spoilers for Girls Like Girls, the movie.
What to know
- Hayley Kiyoko’s feature-film debut expands the story of her iconic “Girls Like Girls” music video into a full-length coming-of-age drama.
- Set in 2006, the film follows Coley and Sonya as they navigate grief, friendship, and the complexities of falling in love.
- Blending sapphic romance with themes of family, loss, and self-discovery, the film delivers an emotional and nostalgic Pride-season watch.
For more than a decade, Girls Like Girls has occupied a special place in Lesbian pop culture. What began as a four-minute music video that helped a generation of young Queer women see themselves on screen has now become a feature-length film, with creator Hayley Kiyoko bringing her iconic love story to theatres just in time for Pride.
An iconic moment for Lesbian culture: “Girls Like Girls” was released as a song in 2015, alongside a music video that remains popular 11 years later. The story was turned into a book in 2023, and now, the story is being released as a full-length film.
Kiyoko’s directorial debut, Girls Like Girls the film is 95 minutes of sapphic longing, distress, and love. The film sees teenager Coley (Maya Da Costa) move to a new town to live with her estranged father, following the death of her mother, before meeting a group of other teenagers that includes boisterous Sonya (Myra Molloy) and her boyfriend, Trenton (Levon Hawke).
Filled with tender, funny and sometimes awkward moments, the story is deeply relatable and heartwarming. In one scene, Sonya takes Coley’s arm, writing her phone number in blue marker, with the second girl teasing that Sonya could’ve shared her information on a piece of paper. Later on, Coley is seen showering with her arm hanging outside of the shower, protecting the number from being washed away under the water. While Coley doesn’t actually reach out to Sonya, Sonya soon appears at her house anyway, and despite the boyfriend in the equation, the two women engage in an awkward friendship that quickly turns romantic.
An intensely heartfelt slice of life, the film is set in 2006 and is deliciously nostalgic for those of us who grew up in the era, with scenes featuring late-night instant messaging, underage drinking, and house parties. Over a summertime of teenage sapphic sweetness and drama, including long bike rides, lovers’ quarrels and drinking in the park, the two women soon find themselves in love.
While geared towards younger audiences, the story develops complex and emotionally layered characters in Sonya and Coley, making it an enjoyable watch for more mature audiences as well. As the two girls grow closer, the film explores not only romance but also themes of isolation, family, mental health, and healing. These heavier emotional threads give the story a depth that extends beyond a typical teen romance, grounding the relationship between Sonya and Coley in experiences that feel authentic and deeply human.
A hallmark of many Queer coming-of-age stories, Sonya struggles to reconcile her growing feelings for Coley with the expectations placed upon her by family, friends, and the environment around her. While she is the one actively pursuing Coley, instead of immediately embracing her attraction, she moves through periods of denial and uncertainty, maintaining an on-again, off-again relationship with Trenton while repeatedly pushing Coley away.
Meanwhile, Coley is navigating challenges of her own. Still grieving the death of her mother by suicide, she arrives in town carrying a profound sense of loss and displacement. She is also estranged from her father, whom she has not been close with since her childhood. Her grief shapes many of her interactions, including in her relationship with Sonya, also contributing to her desire for connection and belonging with both Sonya and the wider group.
A nice artistic touch: throughout the movie, an instrumental version of “Girls Like Girls” plays in the background at pivotal moments, pulling on the heartstrings of viewers and long-term fans.
Ending with a scene of the two girls side by side, not quite a couple, but more than friends, the film closes without a true resolution, but leaves audiences feeling like anything is possible for the two women if they choose to let love in.
Thanks to the palpable chemistry between the lead actors, Sonya and Coley’s journey captures the exhilaration, uncertainty, and self-discovery that so often accompany first Queer love, and ensure that this film will become an instant Queer classic in its own right.
Girls Like Girls will hit theatres across the country on June 19.
