Paige is an artist with her sights set on the CalArts summer program, which will pretty much guarantee her admission into the school of her dreams. The only thing standing in her way is the annoying vague essay prompt where she’s being asked to show them her happiest moment. Like most high schoolers, Paige hasn’t exactly had a lot of monumental experiences which makes it difficult to reminisce on a specific defining moment of bliss. Played by Rowan Blanchard (Boy Meets Girl), Paige is our quintessential leading lady. She’s super talented, awkward, and a little shy with an overbearing sex-positive “cool” mom who wants the best for her — and buys her glow-in-the-dark dental dams.
Now, for the obstacle. Because Paige is an artist, everyone thinks she’s King Pun, the mysterious graffiti artist who’s been tagging the high school with hilarious — and pretty amazing — instagrammable masterpieces. The administration also suspects Paige and wants to suspend her. Paige strikes a deal with the principal (Michelle Buteau) and agrees to join the track team which needs an additional runner to keep their headcount. She also vows to uncover this mysterious tagger and clear her name.
Although Paige doesn’t have an athletic bone in her body, she uses the opportunity to get close to her crush Gabriela (Isabella Ferreira, Love, Victor) who has been the object of her unrequited affection since elementary school. But, here’s where things get dicey. The more time she spends on the team, she’s surprised to discover that her true soulmate might be Gabriela’s sister AJ (Auli’i Cravalho, Moana). And we’re off to the races.
Crush instantly sets the tone from the opening montage of punny art illustrations to the sharp-tongued humor courtesy of writers Kirsten King and Casey Rackham. As most romantic comedies go, it doesn’t take long to figure out where the film is going, but it doesn’t make the ride any less delightful. Most films to fill this genre follow a certain formula and this film is no different, except that it swaps out the traditional hetero triangle we’re used to seeing for a three-girl triangle which assists in making room for a new norm.
Crush contributes to denormalizing some of the things we’ve come to normalize in hetero teen romance movies where the focus tends to be on sex driven by lust. Here we see a more realistic depiction of what high school looks like now. Instead of wild nights filled with debauchery, we see self-aware teens with a sense of maturity even when it comes to sex. In fact, the only teens we see having sex are committed couple Dillon (Tyler Alvarez) and girlfriend Stacey (Teala Dunn) whose kink was politics and were turned on by each other’s intelligence. The only people who were inappropriate in the film were the adults, specifically the interactions between Coach Murray (Aasif Mandvi) and Paige’s mom (Megan Mullally).
It’s a sapphic romantic comedy that doesn’t make gender or sexuality a plot point because, in reality, these things just exist. Directed by Sammi Cohen, the film reminds us that high school doesn’t always have to be a horrible experience — at least not all of it. There are no mean girls here. No bullies. No anti-gay movement to overthrow. At the center, we can find a story that may provide a safe space for queer youth to nestle into the way adults have done to their favorite teen comedies throughout the years. Because sometimes your only problem is trying to figure out who to give your heart to. It’s not heavy-handed storytelling, but it’s worth the watch and rewatches you’re sure to do after you see it.
It could be worthy of a sequel perhaps titled, “Still Crushing.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Watch Crush on Hulu.
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