Girls Like Girls

The age-old debate when it comes to movies based on books is over which is better, the book or the movie?

Well that becomes a rather odd choice when the same person creates both the book and the movie.

Such is the case of Hayley Kiyoko’s film, Girls Like Girls, released theatrically this past June and as of this past weekend on Peacock. 

The story centers around 17-year-old Coley (Maya da Costa), who in the summer of 2006 has relocated from San Diego following her mother’s death by suicide to a small town in Oregon to live with the father she barely knows, Curtis (Zach Braff).

There she meets Sonya (Myra Molloy), who invites her to hang out with her group of teenagers.

Coley and Sonya are immediately attracted to each other, which upsets Sonya’s boyfriend, Trenton (Levon Hawke), who then becomes more possessive of Sonya and hostile toward Coley.

As tensions within the group rise, another boy, Alex (Alozie LaRose), is kind to Coley when she is feeling like an outcast.

The girls struggle to protect their nascent relationship, amid self-doubts and the excruciating pain of a first love, let alone one outside of social norms and expectations. There are misunderstandings and heartaches; high highs and low lows.

The usual labels for a semi-autobiographical story like this are a “coming-of-age” story or a “coming out” film, both of which would be accurate, but this special project transcends those categories to become a universal story about loneliness, attraction, ambivalence, discovery, rebellion, acceptance, rejection, love and hope.

In the end, this is a story about hope.

Director Hayley Kiyoko is a multi-talented actor, singer and author. She wrote several of the songs for the film’s soundtrack, including her 2015 hit single and viral video, “Girls Like Girls.” The song plays over the credits rolling after the film’s ostensible ending.

But — Spoiler Alert! — be sure to let the song play out and the credits to finish because there is still one last scene in this little gem of a film.

As for the debate about the book vs. the movie, the book Girls Like Girls, which was published in 2023, apparently based on the music video, reads almost like a backstory for the movie, which leads me to believe that that was Hayley Kiyoko’s intent all along.

The book utilizes the conceit of Coley and Sonya’s diary entries to reveal their inner feelings for each other, whereas much of the tension in the film revolves around whether Coley’s love for Sonya is unrequited or will be returned.

The book removes that tension, which makes it far less satisfying for me than the film, but I’m sure the book proved essential to the actors as they learned their parts.

Girls Like Girls from Focus Features is not a big budget affair; the film was shot in British Columbia in just 23 days and some of the scenes in the Final Cut were first or second takes. Some additional notes:

• Maya da Costa is Canadian of Portuguese and Vietnamese descent.

• Myra Molloy was born and raised in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father.

• Levon Hawke is the son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and younger brother of actress Maya Hawke.

• Hayley Kiyoko’s parents are Canadian figure skater and choreographer Sarah Kawahara and actor/comedian Jamie Alcroft.

At a time when political leaders seek to sow fear about our differences, this film and the people who made it are testament to the positive contributions of diversity in all of its forms.

HEADLINES:

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TODAY’s LYRICS:

Girls Like Girls” by Hayley Kiyoko

[Intro]
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy (Boys)
Ooh, boy

[Verse 1]
Stealing kisses from your missus
Does it make you freak out?
Got you fussing, got you worried
Scared to let your guard down
Boys (Ooh, boy)
Boys (Ooh, boy)
Tell the neighbors I’m not sorry
If I’m breaking walls down
Building your girl’s second story
Ripping all your floors out

[Chorus]
Saw your face, heard your name, gotta get with you
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new
Isn’t this why we came? Gotta get with you
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new

[Post-Chorus]
Boys
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy