Movie Review: Egghead & Twinkie

I generally hate it when movies begin with an animated sequence. Somewhere in my childhood I came to associate that style of introduction with painfully bad movies and even though I fully understand that isn’t always true, I just can’t rid myself of that reaction. And so it was that when main character Twinkie (Sabrina Jie-a-fa) introduces herself that way I immediately felt my hopes for this film begin to crumble. I was relieved then that it was a short sequence, then I grew to appreciate it as its relevance to the story quickly became clear and ultimately, I was delighted to find that Egghead & Twinkie was as good as I hoped.

Fresh out of high school, Florida teen Twinkie has just begun to accept that she is a lesbian and has been DMing with her online crush on Instagram. The problem is that the girl, BD (Ayden Lee), lives all the way in Texas. Her lifelong best friend Egghead (Louis Tomeo), who lives across the street, has been harboring a crush of his own on Twinkie and decides to make a move, which goes badly enough that it inspires her to come out to her very conservative and recently separated adoptive parents over brunch the next morning. Her father’s reaction isn’t great and her mother does nothing to back her up, so she packs a bag, hops out her bedroom window, and convinces Egghead to drive her to Texas, failing to mention who awaits her there.

Despite his awkward overture towards her and the feelings he can’t just turn off, Egghead deeply values their friendship and so he puts on a happy face and the pair have fun on what will probably be their last big adventure together before heading off to different colleges. Jie-a-fa and Tomeo have such a natural chemistry together it’s kind of hard to believe that they really aren’t best friends. Every moment they’re on screen together is a joy to watch and will feel relatable to many.

Twinkie’s coming out is handled realistically and while it does serve as the catalyst for the film’s journey, it isn’t the primary focus and is never blown out of proportion. It’s simply something she has to contend with. It isn’t easy and it influences many of her other decisions, but it isn’t the be-all end-all of her existence as it often could seem in earlier queer cinema.

In her feature debut, writer / director Sarah Kambe Holland has really captured something special that will likely resonate deeply with the Gen Z audience she’s targeting. She manages to tackle some serious themes while maintaining a breezy and fun vibe throughout. Cleverly deployed animated flourishes representing Twinkie’s comic drawings appear at key moments, serving to punctuate jokes and reactions and add a nicely whimsical touch.

Egghead & Twinkie is a wholesomely sweet and heartfelt story that will endear itself to many with its carefully calibrated blend of real emotion and laugh-out-loud moments. As the current crop of queer youth grow into themselves and discover this over the years it is very likely that it will grow into a cherished favorite for them, much as films like But I’m a Cheerleader, Love, Simon, and Edge of Seventeen did for previous generations. It’s a powerful thing to be watching a movie and finally feel seen. ★★★★