Crush review, a sweet and queer coming of age story

The words sex positive are used a lot in Crush, and it’s a fitting description of the entire film. The sex is at a minimum, but the acceptance is maximum. This is a happy and very queer coming of age film.

In Crush, Paige (Rowan Blanchard as a teen) comes out to her mom in 4th grade. Her single mom (Megan Mullally) accepts the news while working on a leak under the kitchen sink. Megan Mullally leads the way in terms of sex positive vibes in this film, displaying her usual comedy skills to great advantage.

There are plenty of queer kids at Paige’s high school, but she’s had a crush on the same girl since 5th grade: Gabriela (Isabella Ferreira as a teen). Gabriela is dating someone else, however.

Paige is an artist. She’s applying for a summer internship at an art school. Another very good artist who goes by the name King Pun is spray painting funny art with clever puns all over the school. Paige gets blamed for it.

The school Principal (Michelle Buteau, yeah, it’s that kind of school) tells her she will be suspended for the graffiti. To keep from being suspended and ruining her chances at the internship, Paige promises to find out who the real King Pun is and join the track team. After all, Gabriela is on the track team.

Gabriela’s sister AJ (Auli’i Cravalho as a teen) is also on the track team. Paige is told to work with her to improve her dismal skills in track. Paige cannot broad jump, she cannot pole vault, she’s a menace with a javelin, but she can sort of run. AJ helps her figure out how to run. Paige and AJ are together all the time. You can see where this is going, right?

The Coach (Aasif Mandvi) realizes Paige is not meant for track, but he sure takes an interest in Paige’s mom.

The plot moves along through drunk teen parties, track meets, and first kisses. There are some subplots around things like Paige’s brother and his girlfriend both running for student council president, and around the reveal of who King Pun is.

Sammi Cohen directed this cheerful and heartwarming coming of age film. If you need a good LGBTQ+ story, this film is an excellent choice. You can watch it on Hulu.