Girls Like Girls (film)

Summarize Fact Check

In the summer of 2006, 17-year-old Coley has moved to rural Oregon to live with Curtis, her estranged father. At a restaurant, a local girl named Sonya invites her to sit with her and her friends, including Alex, a boy who comments that he thinks Coley's cute; Trenton, Sonya's casual boyfriend; and SJ. The group goes to a local lake, where Trenton throws Coley into the water in spite of her protests. Sonya catches Coley before she leaves, and the two argue over Sonya not stopping Trenton. Eventually, Sonya apologizes, and she gives Coley her AIM ID.

The next day, the two girls shoplift alcohol and go to Sonya's house. Sonya tells Coley about her experiences as a competitive dancer and performs a routine for her, before Coley jokingly dances herself. Sonya begins to vomit in the bathroom, citing the alcohol. The girls continue to spend time together, and a close friendship forms as Trenton becomes increasingly more possessive of Sonya and hostile towards Coley. Sonya leads Coley to her "secret spot" by the railroad tracks, where Coley reveals that Curtis left her and her mother when she was little, and that the reason she lives with him now is because her mother died by suicide. As Sonya comforts Coley, the two passionately kiss and fall asleep in each other's arms. When they wake up, Sonya abruptly hurries home, and ignores Coley's AIM messages.

At a party, Coley learns that Sonya is leaving for an intensive dance camp. Coley asks Sonya if they'll talk while she's gone, to which Sonya replies that she won't have time and that she can't handle Coley. She immediately apologizes and leads Coley to a bedroom, where the two dance together and almost kiss. They're interrupted by Trenton, whom Sonya leaves with. Coley catches the two making out, much to her dismay. She shares a drink with Alex, abruptly kissing him and then crying. He offers his condolences on her mother's death, implying that Sonya gossiped about it.

The next day, Coley confronts Sonya about their attraction to each other. Sonya denies having feelings for her, claiming that she's similarly affectionate with all of her friends. Heartbroken, Coley falls into a depression. She befriends Blake, a convenience store cashier, who invites Coley to her house to smoke marijuana. The two have sex, with Coley impassive and imagining Blake as Sonya.

When Coley returns home the next morning, Curtis says he was worried about not knowing where she's been. Coley claims that he doesn't care about her, citing his absence in her childhood. Curtis reveals that Coley's mother was the one who left him and that he wanted to stay with the two of them. Later, Coley opens up to him about feeling unwanted by everyone; including her mother, implying that she blames herself for her death. Curtis denies these assertions and the two agree to start over. They spend more time together as the summer goes on, bonding over old family photographs.

Coley gets a job at a local restaurant and runs into Sonya while working. Sonya tells Coley that she does have feelings for her, but that she's not ready to be open about them. A few days later, SJ runs into Coley at the lake. She tells Coley that Sonya privately told her about her mother's death to seek advice on how to best support Coley, and that Trenton overheard and told everyone else. She then invites Coley to a party at her house. There, Coley overhears Sonya breaking up with Trenton. Sonya sits alone by the pool, and when Coley approaches she tells her she's tired of running. Coley tells her that she could stop, and Sonya agrees. In a post-credits scene, Sonya stops Coley on her way home and the two kiss in the street.

• Maya da Costa as Coley
• Myra Molloy as Sonya
• Levon Hawke as Trenton
• Zach Braff as Curtis
• Alozie LaRose as Alex
• Sierra Sidwell as SJ
• Hunter Dillon as Goose
• Sophia Carriere as Brooke
• Alexa Mareka as Blake
• Maya Ford as Tracy
• Remy Marthaller as Emma
• Kareem Malcolm as Kendrick
• Olly Atkins as Tye

On May 30, 2023, Kiyoko released her first novel, Girls Like Girls, an adaptation of her 2015 single "Girls Like Girls"; she also co-directed the music video with Austin S. Winchell.^[5] In May 2022, she discussed a desire to turn the story of the song into a feature-length film.^[6] The film adaptation is written by Kiyoko and Stefanie Scott. It is produced by Focus Features.^[7] The cast is led by Myra Molloy and Maya da Costa.^[8]

Principal photography took place in Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada from July 3, 2024, to August 2, 2024,^[9][10] with Sonja Tsypin as the cinematographer.^[11]

Jessica Rose Weiss composed the score for the film.^[12] Christine Armstrong and Sabine Hoffman edited the film.^[13]

Girls Like Girls premiered at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA on June 9, 2026.^[14] It then premiered at the Universal Cinema AMC in Universal City, California on June 15.^[15] It was then screened at the Frameline Film Festival on June 18,^[16][17] being releasing in the United States the following day.^[18] In December 2024, it was announced that Focus Features had acquired worldwide rights to the film.^[19] The film is available to stream on Peacock exclusively beginning on August 14, 2026.^[20]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 59 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Bracingly personal and finely acted, Hayley Kiyoko's Girls Like Girls is a gently moving tale of queer love that's elevated by striking visual flair."^[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[22]

Alison Foreman of IndieWire gave the film a B- and wrote, "If Girls Like Girls gives queer cinephiles an excuse to kiss at the movies in 2026, then Coley and Sonya may have finally accomplished what they set out to do."^[23]