Starting out at the age of 19 to make her feature writing-directing debut, Sarah Kambe Holland, now in her mid-twenties, has made a queer themed film by and for a Gen Z audience, and the result, Egghead & Twinkie is, to use the language of her peers, “totes adorbs”. With its generous use of animation, comic book pacing, candy colors, and intentionally broad comedic performances, the film feels tailor-made for the YA crowd who’ve hungered for some queer representation.
Vivian (Sabrina Jie-a-fa), aka “Twinkie”, is a Chinese-American adopted teen who lives across the street from her lifelong BFF Egghead (Louis Tomeo) in their suburban Florida neighborhood. He’s a few weeks out from going away to college and hopelessly in love with Twinkie, but she comes out to him and confesses her love for a slightly older female DJ in Texas she’s only texted but hasn’t so much as heard her voice. What’s a heartbroken good friend to do but take Twinkie’s conservative parents’ car on a road trip to meet her potential catfish? What could possibly go wrong?
Jie-a-fa and Tomeo have a bouncy, buoyant chemistry, allowing for Twinkie to open up to him about her new crush and the craziness of taking such a leap of faith at such a young age. There’s something refreshing about seeing a straight male character changing gears and not only accepting his friend, but helping to cheer her on as she looks for love. Tomeo charms with his geeky awkwardness. Jie-a-fa reminded me at times of Zendaya in Euphoria, both having that innate ability to tap into complex emotions naturally and ground their characters effortlessly.
Along the way, they meet Jess (Asahi Hirano), a charmer who works at a restaurant and whose concurrent spinoff I’d watch in a heartbeat and it would be called something like, “I’m Like A Vibe”. They hit it off so well that you almost don’t want them to move on to Texas, but it wouldn’t be good storytelling if they didn’t, and Holland knows how to tell a tale. Besides, it’s a road movie, so our heroes have to complete their mission. Honorable mention must go to Ayden Lee as the DJ named B.D., who nails the casual arrogance/confidence of someone used to getting streams of heart emojis on Instagram livestreams.
Without spoiling anything, predictable things happen in the third act only to subsequently take you somewhere less so after that. Once you peel away the frenetic flashiness of the production, you’re left with people who feel genuine. Egghead & Twinkie lands in that sweet spot where older audiences will say, “Awww, I wish I had this film around when I was a teen” and younger audiences will just say “Awwwww.”
By Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic
Egghead & Twinkie screens in person at the 41st Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival on Friday, July 21st, 2023 and is available to stream online on Monday July 17th.
The 41st Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival runs in person until Sunday, July 23rd 2023 and some selections continue virtually until July 30th, 2023. For the full lineup and to purchase tickets head to Outfest LA 2023 website.
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