''Crush'' is a 2022 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Sammi Cohen (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Kirsten King and Casey Rackham. The film stars

Rowan Blanchard Rowan Blanchard (born October 14, 2001) is an American actress and political activist. She was included on a list of ''Times list of Most Influential Teens in 2015. She first became known for starring as Rebecca Wilson in '' Spy Kids: All t ...

and

Auliʻi Cravalho Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho (; born November 22, 2000) is an American actress and singer who made her acting debut as the voice of the titular character in the 2016 Disney 3D computer-animated musical feature film '' Moana''. She went on to star in ...

in a story about a teenage girl joining her high-school track team to get closer to her crush, only to discover she is getting closer to another teammate. ''Crush'' was released digitally on April 29, 2022, on Hulu.

Plot

Paige Evans is a student at Miller High School who has a passion for art and hopes to study at a summer program at her dream school,

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

. She struggles with the prompt which is to describe her happiest moment; she considers her unrequited long-time crush on popular student Gabby Campos as a possible topic. Further complicating matters is ‘KingPun’, an anonymous artist who vandalizes the school with pun-based

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. Paige is widely suspected by students and school administration of being the culprit due to her interest in art. In order to avoid suspension, she agrees to join the track team while also discovering who the real KingPun is. With no other athletic aptitude to speak of, Paige is placed in the 4x100 relay along with Gabby and her sister AJ, with AJ tasked with training her. She goes to a house party that she believes KingPun is also attending, and recruits AJ to help her investigation. While staging a stakeout at the school, Paige and Gabby share an awkward kiss, Paige’s first. Paige's friend Dillon suggests that the kiss was uncomfortable because Paige’s crush has passed, and she and AJ gradually become closer. The track team travels for a meet; at a party, members of the team play

seven minutes in heaven Seven minutes in heaven (or seven minutes in the closet) is a kissing party game mostly played at teenage parties. The game may also be played with a different duration. The game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark encl ...

. Paige and AJ are paired together and share a kiss, which AJ believes is the first for both of them. Later, Paige meets Gabby in the hotel hallway and Gabby attempts to kiss her, which Paige rebuffs. At the track meet, Miller High places second in the relay. After the race, Gabby approaches Paige to apologize for the previous night, inadvertently revealing to AJ that the two previously kissed. AJ is heartbroken, and reveals that she was KingPun all along. In an effort to protect AJ, Paige attempts to confess to being KingPun, only to find out that AJ has already confessed and been suspended. With Gabby’s help, Paige stages an apology at a school assembly, creating a large mural of moments the two shared together, which Paige submits to CalArts for her prompt. They reconcile, and AJ’s suspension is reversed, with the two sharing another kiss.

Cast

as Paige Evans, a budding artist striving to find her place in the world *

as AJ Campos, Gabriela's twin and co-captain of Miller High School's track team * Isabella Ferreira as Gabriela Campos, Paige's crush since childhood, AJ's twin sister, and co-captain of Miller High School's track team * Tyler Alvarez as Dillon, Paige's platonic best friend and Stacey's boyfriend * Teala Dunn as Stacey Clark, Dillon's girlfriend * Rico Paris as Tim, a student who is sure that Paige is KingPun *

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...

as Coach Murray, Miller High School's track coach * Michelle Buteau as Principal Collins * Megan Mullally as Angie Evans, Paige's mother * Addie Weyrich as Chantal, a

wiccan Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

with a seeming crush on Paige, given how she keeps stalking Paige and AJ * Jes Tom as Aya, an influencer and Gabriela's on-and-off partner * Catherine McCafferty as Erin Billings, who is obsessed with horses

Production

By July 2021, Kirsten King and Casey Rackham had written a script based on their own life experiences, telling a LGBTQ story that would show more queer joy growing up rather than the tales typically told simply about coming out. Sammi Cohen identified with the project, initially called ''Love in Color'', and signed on to direct.

and

were cast as the leads shortly afterward, and shooting began in the Syracuse area of New York that summer. In March 2022, the final title was set as ''Crush'' with a release date set for April 29, 2022, on Hulu.

Reception

Audience viewership

According to

Whip Media Whip Media Group is a private American company selling enterprise software for content distribution, as well as TV- and film-related user data. It operates physical offices in the US, the UK, and the EU. Background Whip Media Group is the result ...

, ''Crush'' was the 3rd most streamed film across all platforms in the United States, during the week of April 29, 2022.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Tomris Laffly of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the diversity and inclusivity within the cast compared to other teen romantic comedy films, and stated that Rowan Blanchard and Auli'i Carvalho's performances successfully establish chemistry between their characters, but found the movie too fearful to take a more plausible approach on the characters and their personas. Monita Mohan of ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...

'' praised the film for focusing on coming of age more than coming out and for creating well-rounded characters, and complimented how the movie depicts same-sex relationships and gender identity as accepted in a modern society. Christy Lemire of '' RogerEbert.com'' rated the movie 3 out of 4 stars, praised the idea of depicting same-sex relationships as conventional in a contemporary society, and complimented the cast's performance, especially Megan Mullally's portrayal of her character. Jude Dry of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' gave the film a B− rating, stated that the movie stands out delivering a fresh approach on queer teen films due to its trope and humor, while saying it also manages to keep a love story and happy ending which can appeal to a broad audience.

References

External links

* * {{Hulu 2022 films 2022 directorial debut films 2022 LGBT-related films 2022 romantic comedy films 2020s American films 2020s coming-of-age comedy films 2020s English-language films 2020s high school films 2020s teen comedy films 2020s teen romance films 3 Arts Entertainment films American coming-of-age comedy films American high school films American romantic comedy films American teen comedy films American teen LGBT-related films American teen romance films Coming-of-age romance films Films shot in New York (state) Hulu original films LD Entertainment films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related coming-of-age films LGBT-related romantic comedy films