American/Japanese newbie filmmaker Sarah Kambe Holland got the opportunity that many others dream of i.e. parlaying her debut 9-minute short into a full-length feature. Egghead and Twinkle is a delightful coming-of-age story that obviously benefits from the fresh energy and talent that Holland has lovingly poured into a project that is so obviously dear to her heart.
We are so used to seeing teenage queer films when some lovelorn girl is lusting after her best gay male friend. So it’s very interesting that Holland has actually reversed the roles and in her story 18-year-old Egghead (Louis Tomeo) puts the moves on 16-year-old Chinese/American Twinkie (Sabrina Jieafa) unwittingly having failed to notice all the obvious hints that she is a lesbian.
They live on the same street …… literally across the way from each other …. and have been hanging out as buddies for years so that everyone at their school, and even Twinkie’s parents assume they are romantically involved. But Twinkie’s heart lies elsewhere ….. in Texas to be more precise ….with B.D. a DJ (Ayden Lee) who she has met online via Instagram.
She may be thousands of miles away and they have never ever met, but when B.D. (which incidentally stands for Big Dyke) invites her to a Club where she will be working, Twinkie is more than tempted. It only takes another row with her adopted father that catapults her into action and ‘borrowing’ his car, she talks Egghead into driving off with her.
She has been sparing in telling the truth with Egghead and he only becomes aware of the real purpose of the trip when it is too late to turn back.
Now it turns into the most charming road movie with the pair of them dealing with all the trials and tribulations of traveling across the country unprepared and with little money. Most of it is very cute and funny and the two actors have this sublime chemistry between them as they bounce off each other with the joy of some very witty one-liners. The movie works so very well because of the pitch-perfect performances from both Jieafa and Tomeo who are a sheer joy to watch.
Their main ‘co-stars’ are the rather inspired graphics and animation that are peppered throughout the whole story.
So do they make Texas and get to meet B.D.? Well yes, and she is not catfished like I had assumed she would be. You’ll have to see what happens when for once a ‘happy ever after ending’ is not the traditional one you may have expected, but still finishes the story on a high.
But what we can expect is big things in the future for Sarah Kamba Holland and both her lead actors
Review : Roger Walker-Dack
Editor in Chief : Queerguru
Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT
Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributung Editor The Gay Uk &Contributor Edge Media
Former CEO and Menswear Designer of Roger Dack Ltd in the UK
one of the hardest-working journalists in the business' Michael Goff of Towleroad
Labels: 2023, coming of age, Egghead & Twinkie, Louis Tomeo, Sabrina Jieafa), Sarah Kamba Holland
