The Tribeca Film Festival is less than a week away, and we’re getting a look at the range of films screening at the event. That variety includes the world premiere of G.B.F., a teen comedy from Jawbreaker director Darren Stein. A trailer for the film has now popped up, and though it treads familiar territory, the footage suggests a much fluffier outing than Stein’s dark story of death by candy.
Penned by first-time screenwriter George Northy, G.B.F. follows a closeted high school student (Michael J. Willett) who finds sudden popularity when his coming out causes three girls to vie for his attention as their “Gay Best Friend.” On top of all the silliness, the film boasts an interesting cast, including Megan Mullally and two former teen comedy regulars, Jawbreaker star Rebecca Gayheart and American Pie actress Natasha Lyonne. See the trailer and synopsis below:
Synopsis:
The bitter fight for supremacy between a school’s most popular girls takes an unexpected turn when Tanner (Michael J. Willett) becomes its first openly gay student. As they race to bag the big trend in fashion accessories, the Gay Best Friend, Tanner must choose between skyrocketing popularity and the friends he is leaving behind. Darren Stein (Jawbreaker) returns with another comic send-up of high school clique culture, including memorable cameos by Megan Mullally and Natasha Lyonne.
From the looks of it, the selection blatantly borrows from some of the genre’s better titles – for example, Mullally plays a Mean Girls-type wannabe hip mom, and one of the main girls is named Fawcett, a detail that recalls the pop culture-based names of the female characters in Clueless. While audiences might overlook the similarities, some movie goers may take issue with the film’s stereotypically flamboyant or cuddly portrayals of the gay characters. Hopefully, it’s funny enough that they can forgive some of the more questionable tropes.
G.B.F. also stars Paul Iacono, Sasha Pieterse, Andrea Bowen, Molly Tarlov, Evanna Lynch, Xosha Roquemore, Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque, and Mia Rose Frampton. The film premieres at Tribeca on April 19th.