‘Crush’: Finally, a low-stakes lesbian rom-com

Ah, the high school romcom. Safe, fluffy goodness where the stakes of the real world give way to the biggest problem being that the main character can’t seem to get their crush to notice them. It’s a tried and true formula that’s imperfect and cliche but gives audiences exactly what they ask for.

That’s probably why these films keep getting made. There’s a constant demand for this genre where viewers can just push away the hectic day, sit down with a glass of wine, and vicariously live out a fictional love story where someone else has to deal with the setbacks of a romantic entanglement.

What sets “Crush” apart is it offers all of that … but for lesbians. What’s this? A movie about lesbians that isn’t a dark period piece with a tragic ending? Who would have thought?

It’s 2022, and Hollywood finally thought, “Why not sink a few million dollars into a harmless little movie for the gay girls?” Millions of romances have been made through the decades in film, all of them straight. But hey, the lesbians can finally put a notch on their side of the scoreboard for once.

“Crush” follows a high school artist named Paige ( Rowan Blanchard) who desperately wants her crush Gabriella (Isabella Ferreira) to look her way. But, as the cliche goes, Paige is awkward, invisible, and has never been kissed.

To make matters worse, Paige is accused of being the graffiti artist who keeps decorating parts of the school with art incorporating bad jokes. The artist’s name? King Pun. Seems they have a cult following on social media. This accusation eventually lands her in trouble with the principal, and she faces being expelled, which would ruin her dream of being accepted into a summer college art program.

Paige then volunteers to uncover King Pun’s true identity by joining the track and field team so the coach (Aasif Mandvi), her biggest accuser, can keep an eye on her. And folks can probably guess where the story goes from there. Gabriella is on the track and field team. A love triangle is introduced. High school shenanigans ensue.

This film checks all of the high school rom- com boxes from “main character goes to a party” to “badly timed misunderstanding almost ruins relationship with crush.” But these cliches can’t drag down “Crush” too much, because 99% of other rom-coms rely on them simply to exist. The genre bills itself on predictability and being safe. The fans don’t want to be jostled. They want to coast along, smile at the adorable moments, and gasp when something easily anticipated happens.

None of those are bad things. They’re part of what makes the rom- com genre so attractive to its audience.

“Crush” has a few things going for it. For starters, it’s edited and presented in a quirky energy that matches the look and feel of high school life, complete with funny doodles and slow-motion walks when Gabriella is in Paige’s line of sight. It’s almost like director Sammi Cohen saw the opening and closing pencil sketch credits for the Tom Holland “Spider-Man” movies and went, “I’m gonna make an entire film with these.” It vibes well as the overall theme.

Most of the cast has a great chemistry on screen, from Paige’s overly-accepting sex positive mother ( Megan Mullally) embarrassing her to Paige’s cute moments with her crush. It’s also funny to see “Crush” flip the script and provide a token straight couple in a film filled with mostly queer relationships.

A lot of the humor hits spot on, and helps keep this fluffy bit of buttery goodness rolling along at a decent pace toward a brief runtime that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Where the movie does suffer is Mandvi’s performance. It’s not that he’s a bad actor. He was just given a direction that doesn’t make much sense. He’s constantly flirting with Paige’s mom and doing his best impression of Uncle Rico from “Napoleon Dynamite.” Very little of his material is funny, and his inclusion in the film is a bit of a question mark.

The good news is he’s not given so much screen time that he weighs down the film. And “Crush” dedicates the perfect amount of time to Paige’s struggles in art and love.

It’s difficult to overstate how important “Crush” is as a lesbian rom-com. Even if Hollywood is a little more open to LGBT films and roles than it was a decade ago, there’s not nearly enough material made for gay audiences to enjoy. And given that Zoomers are an increasingly gay generation, it would make perfect sense for new movies and TV series to reflect that demographic shift.

The fact that “Crush” just has gay characters existing in a high school environment doing things normal teenagers do every day without making a big deal about sexual orientation is refreshing and one of the movie’s biggest selling points.

This isn’t the greatest rom-com ever made. It’s average. But the fact that lesbian audiences have finally reached a point where they can have a mundane romcom is what’s worth getting excited about. Only a few million more to even out that score. Better get busy, Hollywood.

“Crush” releases today on Hulu.