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Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis shine in “Almost Adults”

Folks, after what’s felt like a really long wait, Almost Adults is about to have its world premiere on May 28 in Toronto at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Yes, the brainchild of The Gay Women Channel’s Adrianna DiLonardo and Sarah Rotella, and brought to life by Carmilla stars Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis, is finally upon us. And because my job is awesome, I got an early look at the film and am more than ready to fill you in.

First, let’s get some things out of the way:

  • Elise plays a tiny gay in this movie. Natasha plays a tiny straight. I’m sorry if that last bit disappoints you, but that’s just the way it is!
  • Elise curses in this film. A lot. It’s great.
  • Elise’s character has the same appetite for sweets our little Laura is famous for.
  • Natasha will at times speak with a baby voice. Remember, in this role she’s just a useless human.
  • Finally, you’re likely to end up crushing on Winny Clarke. You can just accept that now.

Now onto the movie!

Mackenzie (Elise) and Cassie (Natasha) are roommates that have been best friends since childhood. Now 22 and nearing the end of their time at university, they’re starting to drift apart. Their lives are just really different at the moment-Cassie just dumped her boyfriend and is having a shit time at her internship, whereas Mackenzie is finally ready to come out. To everyone but Cassie that is.

The girls are super close, so much so that the movie starts off with them cuddling in bed together because Cassie is feeling especially clingy after her breakup. They’re the kind of friends that know each other so well that even five or more rounds of rock, paper, scissors won’t settle a dispute. But apparently their friendship isn’t solid enough for Cassie to just know that Mackenzie’s gay, or for Mackenzie to trust that Cassie won’t freak out at the revelation.

You know who absolutely does know? Mackenzie’s adorkable parents. Her hints about vegans and softball players are completely unnecessary-her parents figured it out when her mom found a DVD copy of The L Word under her bed five years ago. They’re so supportive, and Mackenzie totally hates how anti-climatic it all was.

By contrast, Cassie’s parents are devastated to hear the news that she broke up with Matthew (Mark Matechuk), a doctor in the making. Appalled, her mom asks her if she’s a lesbian. “No”, she responds. “But sometimes I wish I was.” In another movie, perhaps.

Well with Cassie’s personal and professional life in the dumps, Mackenzie can’t seem to find a good time to come out to her, although plenty of hilarious evidence keeps piling up. In any case, Mackenzie’s more concerned with dating right now.

Fortunately for her (or maybe not always so fortunately), she’s got Levi (Justin Gerhard), the gay male best friend she shares with Cassie. His bright idea is to set her up with a Tumblr account so she can get a Tumblr girlfriend. Now I get that this is a thing, but he’s having real sex in the real world, so you’d think he’d set his friend up for the same.

It turns out, however, that Mackenzie doesn’t need the Internet to date. She’s just enjoying a packed lunch on campus when a gorgeous girl walks up to her. Her name’s Elliot (Winny Clarke), and her teammates just bet her $20 (about $15 USD) that she couldn’t get Mackenzie’s number. Apparently they tease her a lot because she keeps blowing it with girls (which is only believable because this is a movie after all), and she just wants Mackenzie to play along and give her a fake number if need be. Because she assumes Mackenzie is straight. Someone’s gaydar is off… Of course, Mackenzie’s gay, so what follows is some super cute flirting that promises more to come.

But friggin’ Tumblr, man. Cassie’s having a horrible day at her internship when hereby dubbed “Annoying Amy” asks her if her friend Mackenzie is single because she’s been blabbing about being gay online. Ouch. Suffice it to say, Cassie flips out on dear Mackenzie.

To her credit, Cassie seems to be willing to move past it 12 hours and one sabotaged breakfast later. She admits she’s more upset about how her life is going at the moment. For her part, Mackenzie opens up about how hard it was not to tell her best friend about this important part of her.

So they move on to be perfect friends to each other, right? Well, ask yourself how you behaved during your first relationship or after a life-changing breakup. And what happens when there’s a change in fortunes and bitterness gets in the way of friendship? It’s never simple, is it?

But I swear it’s a fun and lighthearted watch! And yes, there are definitely some hot makeout scenes. Let’s be honest though: we’ve been giddy about this film because of the chemistry between Elise and Natasha and the funny that Adrianna and Sarah keep bringing. Well let me tell you, they deliver on the expectations.

Visit the movie’s website to stay connected. Check in with your local LGBT film festival to find out when it’ll be playing near you.

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