Egghead and Twinkie - BFI Flare

‘A young Asian American girl and her hapless best friend hit the road to meet her online crush in this delightful road movie’

Egghead and Twinkie is a fun-fuelled teenage romantic comedy where best friends embark upon a road trip to meet Twinkie’s (Sabrina Jieafa) crush for the first time. As Egghead (Louis Tomeo) will be going off to Stanford University after the holidays, this film portrays his and Twinkie’s last big summer together and one last bonding trip between two best friends. This is a delightfully sweet feature-length film that captures the awkwardness of teenage love, but is ultimately very light-hearted and holds a lovely positive message at its centre. Written and directed by Sarah Kambe Holland, this upbeat film explores connecting to your heritage, the young LGBTQ+ teen experience and embracing nerdiness in a relatable way.

The general vibe of this film is Lady Bird meets Booksmart meets The Half Of It, as it is a coming-of-age film with a queer twist. Everybody assumes that Egghead and Twinkie are dating just because they are best friends, or as Twinkie describes: “just because you’re a dude and you drive me everywhere.” However, as you watch more of the film, it is clear that they are more like siblings which is great to watch. Their dynamic as friends continues to be relatable throughout the film, with added dramatic irony for the viewer to follow both characters’ inner dialogues with added narration and cartoon animation to better capture the mood. Included in this is Twinkie’s coming out journey, from coming out to her conservative adopted parents, to telling Egghead the truth. These typically serious moments of dialogue provide plenty of laugh out loud moments, as well as raw emotive scenes that tug at the heartstrings.

Script-wise, there are plenty of iconic one-liners and excellent pacing throughout, as the film travels backwards and forwards across the timeline of the story without being confusing. As well as a very clear narrative, it is a really fun viewing experience, with great production value and exciting animated images to best capture every scene in an incredibly comedic way. Plenty of bright colours and costumes fill the screen with positivity and laughter, as well as amplifying every sentiment along each stage of the road trip. In particular, scenes and montages of Twinkie’s queer experiences are incredibly relatable to an LGBTQ+ audience, as whilst she uses humour to deflect in serious scenes, the frustration and torment of handling complications in that journey is handled both sensitively and realistically.

A complicated parent relationship, a first crush and an imperfect coming out reaction all complement the funnier, more outrageous moments on screen. Whilst Egghead and Twinkie have captivating chemistry as friends, this film handles the ups and downs of them being faced with real moments of conflict for the first time. Despite plenty of uncomfortable and tense moments, Egghead’s support of Twinkie is unconditional as he figures out what it means to be a true best friend and LGBTQ+ ally. This is a beautiful depiction of a close friendship as both characters support each other when it really counts and allow each other’s confidence to blossom as a result.

Egghead and Twinkie is a lovely film that is testament to the creative vision of filmmaker Sarah Kambe Holland. Whilst the action is primarily focused on Egghead and Twinkie’s friendship, there are plenty of enjoyable secondary characters adding to their story. The incredibly kind Jess (Asahi Hirano) and the cut-throat diner owner Bob (Roger Greco) are just some of the brilliant additions to this already incredibly talented and emotive cast. This story holds much positive LGBTQ+ representation and if you are a fan of coming-of-age queer stories and general nerdy teenage fun then this is the film for you.

To find out more about Egghead and Twinkie and other films featured at BFI Flare 2023, see the BFI website or read more of our BFI Flare coverage at www.ukfilmreview.co.uk