Prom Dates (2024)

Julia Lester plays Hannah, a lesbian who begins her “coming out” journey, in director Kim O. Nguyen’s 2024 comedy PROM DATES, which features a screenplay by queer comedian D.J. Mausner.

PROM DATES

2024. USA.

 Director: Kim O. Nguyen

Screenplay: D.J. Mausner

Starring: Julia Lester, Antonia Gentry, Kenny Ridwan, JT Neal, Jordan Buhat, Zión Moreno, Terry Hu, John Michael Higgins & Chelsea Handler

After making a blood oath as 13-year-olds to have the perfect prom, best friends Hannah and Jess (Antonia Gentry), now in their senior year, face the obstacle of finding dates as the event approaches. Hannah has just dumped her boyfriend and has started to come out as a lesbian, and Jess dumps her boyfriend as well after discovering he has been cheating on her. Together, the two besties begin their quest to find new prom dates.

In a recent interview with Pop Culture Planet, writer D.J. Mausner stated, “I'm queer and trans and came out as those things at different times in my life. I've been very lucky to have a lot of support in my life. I didn't want to depict something that hadn't been true for me … There are certainly many people who have that terrible experience coming out, don't get me wrong, but because that wasn't my experience it felt wrong to dramatize that. Instead, it was really fun for me to let a queer character have fun.”

There are many films centred on queer trauma, it’s refreshing to see a teen movie where the lesbian character is accepted right away and encouraged by friends and family to be herself. While writing PROM DATES, Mausner also joked that they didn’t want the character’s journey to be like “a period piece where two women touch fingers for 5 seconds and then never see each other again.” Hannah gets to experience a lot of important “firsts” as a queer woman – though, as in life they don’t always go as planned.

PROM DATES is streaming on Hulu (USA) and on Disney+ (Canada/UK/Australia/Mexico)