Neil Baker
Egghead & Twinkie is showing at BFI Flare on Thursday 16th, Saturday 18th and Sunday 26th of March.
Egghead (Louis Tomeo) and Twinkie (Sabrina Jieafa) are childhood best friends. Twinkie is resilient, adventurous and incredibly cool, while Egghead is intelligent, loving and sharp. But even the closest friends don’t tell each other everything. Egghead has long hidden his romantic feelings for Twinkie, while Twinkie has hidden her feelings for girls from Egghead. Neither has ever opened up to the other as they know these secrets could change everything! But sometimes, change is unavoidable. As he prepares to leave for college Egghead has decided it’s time to show Twinkie the love he has kept hidden through a trip to the cinema and a kiss over the popcorn. Twinkie isn’t prepared for this and quickly avoids the embrace and the deflated Egghead’s desires; after all, her heart lies with a mysterious online girl named B.D., a club DJ in Dallas, Texas.
Meanwhile, Twinkie’s parents, who adopted her at a young age, think she is romantically attached to Egghead, and her estate agent dad seems to lack any understanding of just how confusing her life currently is! Therefore following another row at the dinner table, Twinkie persuades Egghead to go on one last road trip using her father’s car. The trouble is, Twinkie hasn’t exactly been honest with Egghead about the destination and her online affair with B.D. Plus, they have no money and borrowing her dad’s car didn’t involve any permission.
Writer and director Sarah Kambe Holland’s road trip movie is a pure delight. By mixing laugh-out-loud comedy with vibrant cinematography, animation, outstanding performances, and a discussion on cultural heritage, Egghead & Twinkie transcends simple labels to become something wonderfully fresh in the landscape of modern LGBTQIA+ cinema. Here ‘coming out’ carries multiple layers. For example, Egghead comes out with his love for Twinkie before coming out again as a queer ally. Meanwhile, Twinkie not only comes out as a lesbian but a strong and proud Asian/American woman who is ready to rediscover her cultural roots. Here the classic teen road trip movie is bathed in primary colours and the gorgeous animation of Jill Cefalo-Sanders and Dustin Wisch. The result mixes elements of Heartstopper and Diary of a Wimpy Kid with a homage to the work of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe.
Egghead & Twinkie started its life as a short film in 2019, and there is always a risk in expanding a short into a feature-length story. Thankfully, Sarah Kambe Holland avoids the potential pitfalls through a brilliantly sharp screenplay and the outstanding performances of Sabrina Jieafa and Louis Tomeo, who are an absolute pleasure to watch as they bounce off one another with impeccable comedic timing. Kambe Holland’s delightful indie gem carved a special little place in my heart, and I, for one, didn’t want to say goodbye to Egghead and Twinkie as the credits rolled and their road trip came to an end.
Big Boys – In conversation with Corey Sherman
sublime
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Egghead and Twinkie
United States | 1hr 27min | 2023
Writer and director Sarah Kamba Holland’s road trip movie is a pure delight. By mixing laugh-out-loud comedy with vibrant cinematography, animation, outstanding performances, and a discussion on cultural heritage, Egghead and Twinkie transcends simple labels to become something wonderfully fresh in the landscape of modern LGBTQIA+ cinema.
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