Crush (2022 film)

Crush is a 2022 American coming-of-age film directed by Sammi Cohen (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Kirsten King and Casey Rackham. The film stars Rowan Blanchard and Auliʻi Cravalho in a story about a teen girl joining her high-school track team to get closer to her crush, only to find out she is getting closer to another teammate. Crush was digitally released on April 29, 2022 on Hulu.

Crush
Official poster
Directed bySammi Cohen
Written byKirsten King & Casey Rackham
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMatthew Wise
Edited byMelissa Remenarich-Aperlo
Music bySt. Panther
Production
companies
Distributed byHulu
Release date
  • April 29, 2022 (2022-04-29)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Premise

Paige is a high-school artist who joins her school's track team just to get closer to the girl she has a crush on. Not knowing anything about track, her coach assigns her teammate AJ to train her. As Paige and AJ's relationship develops, Paige finds herself in a dilemma over who she should be pursuing.

Cast
  • Rowan Blanchard as Paige Evans
  • Auliʻi Cravalho 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 best friend who's dating Stacey.
  • Teala Dunn as Stacey Clark, Dillon's girlfriend
  • Rico Paris as Tim
  • Aasif Mandvi 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
  • Jes Tom as Aya, Gabriela's on-and-off partner.

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.[1] Rowan Blanchard and Auliʻi Cravalho were cast in the lead shortly afterward,[2] and shooting began in the Syracuse area of New York that summer.[3] In March 2022, the final title was set as Crush with a release date set for April 29, 2022, on Hulu.[4]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]

Tomris Laffly of Variety 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.[7] Monita Mohan of Collider 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.[8] 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.[9] Jude Dry of IndieWire 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.[10]

References
  1. Jackson, Angelique (July 22, 2021). "American High, Animal Pictures and Depth of Field Partner for Hulu Movie Love in Color". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  2. Galuppo, Mia (August 10, 2021). "Rowan Blanchard, Auliʻi Cravalho to Lead Hulu Coming-of-Age Romance Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. PMRC. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  3. Herbert, Geoff (March 30, 2022). "Crush movie: First look at American High's queer teen rom-com shot in Syracuse". Syracuse.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  4. Grobar, Matt (March 30, 2022). "Sammi Cohen's Hulu Romance Starring Rowan Blanchard & Auliʻi Cravalho Gets Title, Premiere Date, First-Look Photos". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  5. "Crush". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  6. "Crush". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. Laffly, Tomris; Laffly, Tomris (April 29, 2022). "'Crush' Review: Hulu's Teen-Centric Queer Rom-Com Plays It Too Safe". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  8. "The Beauty of 'Crush' Is That It's a Coming-of-Age Story, Not a Coming Out Story". Collider. April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  9. Lemire, Christy. "Crush movie review & film summary (2022) | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  10. Dry, Jude (April 29, 2022). "'Crush' Review: Everyone's a Little Bit Queer in Hulu's Cutesy Gen-Z Rom-Com". IndieWire. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
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