Kristin Stewart and Alia Shawkat show off their chemistry in this debut feature from Dylan Meyer
For writer-director Dylan Meyer, the creative mandate seems straightforward: write about what you know and create the kind of stories you want to see on screen. That sensibility forms the foundation of The Wrong Girls, a stoner comedy built around an endearingly chaotic friendship and propelled by an increasingly absurd series of events. At the center of the film are Frankie (Kristen Stewart), a Stanford-trained engineering whiz, and Molly (Alia Shawkat), an aspiring chef who struggles to channel her creativity into anything resembling a stable career. Bound by a sisterly bond and a mutual enthusiasm for a wide spectrum of narcotic indulgences, the pair are two weeks behind on rent and unlikely to make up the difference through their latest side hustle.
Both women are also dealing with personal complications. Molly’s boyfriend (Zack Fox) wants her to move in with him, while Frankie unexpectedly runs into an ex who is now dating a woman who looks uncannily like her. That encounter sets in motion a case of mistaken identity when a mysterious undercover operative (LaKeith Stanfield) hands Frankie a briefcase intended for her politically connected doppelgänger. What follows is a drug-fueled adventure involving an international incident, a covert scientific research project, and the wrath of some impeccably dressed Norwegians.
The Wrong Girls largely delivers on exactly what it promises. It’s a stoner comedy through and through: silly, weird, occasionally slapstick, and content to embrace its own ridiculousness. Those who enjoy the genre will find plenty to appreciate as Frankie and Molly stumble through both their everyday lives and a rapidly escalating conspiracy. What makes the film particularly appealing is how its more outrageous narrative remains grounded in familiar concerns. Financial instability, romantic uncertainty, friendship, and career frustrations are all recognizable struggles. Meyer places these everyday anxieties in increasingly bizarre circumstances, allowing her protagonists to navigate adulthood while experimental drugs, secret research projects, and supernatural side effects threaten to derail everything. Thematically, the story becomes surprisingly empowering. Literally so, once the drugs begin unlocking telekinetic powers that may ultimately be the key to the duo’s survival.
The film affectionately embraces many of the genre’s familiar hallmarks: slacker roommates, overdue rent, inventive drug-delivery systems, and antagonistic outside forces determined to ruin a perfectly good time. Its tone shifts comfortably between the mundane and the absurd, creating an easygoing hangout-movie atmosphere punctuated by bizarre running gags and moments of escalating chaos. At times, it feels like a throwback to the stoner comedies of the 90s, a quality many viewers will find nostalgic and appealing.
What separates The Wrong Girls from much of the genre is its focus on female friendship. Unlike many classic stoner comedies, which traditionally center on aimless male protagonists, Meyer gives her women room to be messy, flawed, and uncertain without treating those qualities as character failings. There is no expectation that Frankie and Molly should have everything figured out. Instead, the film celebrates their imperfections while emphasizing the support they provide one another. In doing so, it delivers something refreshingly simple: the same freedom to be gloriously dysfunctional that male characters have enjoyed in comedies for decades. Think Cheech & Chong by way of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, a shaggy, female-led stoner comedy with a surprisingly heartfelt center.
Stewart and Shawkat are crucial to making that approach work. Both deliver delightfully loose performances that capture the pair’s laid-back, perpetually bewildered energy. Even as the story veers into increasingly fantastical territory, their chemistry grounds the film in something recognizable and authentic. Their interactions feel natural, bouncing off one in a way that entertains, but still highlights the warmth of their friendship. The film radiates queer energy. While never overly concerned with labels, it embraces an anarchic, anti-establishment spirit that is likely to resonate strongly with queer audiences and communities. The result is a comedy that feels both contemporary and comfortably familiar.
Meyer also benefits from an impressively stacked supporting cast. LaKeith Stanfield brings a suitably enigmatic presence as the undercover operative, while Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani lend their voices to the girls’ cats once telepathic communication enters the mix. Kate McKinnon appears as an eccentric scientist, Tony Hale delights as an insufferable Stanford bro, and Geena Davis pops up as a government official. However, special recognition belongs to Chris Estrada, whose performance as the girls’ landlord perfectly captures the laid-back, tangential energy needed to sell the film’s comedic rhythm. His timing repeatedly elevates scenes that might otherwise simply drift by.
Visually, cinematographer Todd Banhazl helps elevate the material. Sun-drenched daytime sequences contrast effectively with nighttime scenes that frequently drift into psychedelic territory, reinforcing the film’s altered-state sensibilities. Meyer’s direction occasionally reveals her inexperience behind the camera, with some compositions feeling conventional and a handful of visual choices lacking distinction. Still, strong pacing and an emphasis on character relationships help smooth over many of those rough edges.
The Wrong Girls never becomes quite as outrageous or riotously funny as its premise suggests it could be. There are moments when the film feels content to coast rather than push its absurdity to the limit. Nevertheless, its enduring charm lies in the strength of its central friendship and the easygoing affection it has for its characters. Funny, sweet, and pleasantly scruffy around the edges, it’s the kind of comedy that succeeds less through big laughs than through its ability to make audiences want to spend time with these misfits.
The Wrong Girls hits theaters on August 14th
