In 2015, singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko released the song “Girls Like Girls.” Now, after 11 years, the song has gone through several transformations: first into a viral music video, then a novel adaptation penned by Kiyoko herself, and now her debut feature film. Girls Like Girls is a warm, melancholy, sapphic coming-of-age story that doesn’t offer anything groundbreaking for the genre, but serves as a lovely debut worth seeking out. From the intimate, dreamy direction of Kiyoko to the committed performances of the lead actors, Girls Like Girls is a welcome entry into the queer coming-of-age canon.
The movie tells the story of Coley (Maya da Costa) and Sonya (Myra Molloy). Coley is going through a lot; after the loss of her emotionally volatile mother and a move to a new town with her previously absent father (Zach Braff, understated and warm), her world is adrift. While getting some air by a fan in a diner, Coley sees Sonya. As the sounds of Tegan and Sara float over the soundtrack, drifting in from Coley’s headphones, the pair notice each other, and nothing will be the same again.
Anyone familiar with Kiyoko’s original music video will immediately recognize the visual cues from it: Coley’s yellow bike and the retro aesthetics, along with certain scenes that have been fleshed out for the movie. Kiyoko has built a world of endless summer melancholy here, where bike rides can lead to abandoned train yards and the fleeting beauty and fierce pain of first love. It’s an atmosphere that is as informed by the interiority and emotional vulnerability of John Hughes as it is informed by Instagram posts from the 2010s. It’s bound to be catnip for anyone who thrived on Tumblr moodboards and late-night instant messenger chats.
The visual language of Girls Like Girls isn’t the only aspect of the film that makes it compelling. Da Costa and Molloy share a playful chemistry onscreen that turns into something more volatile and tender as the movie unfolds. At first glance, da Costa has more to do as Coley, balancing the discovery of her sexuality with the complicated feelings surrounding her mom’s passing and father’s resurgence in her life. Da Costa presents Coley as a young woman with a shield up against the world, but in fleeting moments, she lets that shield crack open – with a smile, a glance, even a tear or two. Playing Sonya, Molloy doesn’t have as much to do on the surface, and for large chunks of the movie Sonya is a borderline villain, shrugging off the burgeoning romance between her and Coley with a cruel nonchalance. But it’s what’s underneath the nonchalance that is Molloy’s skillset at work: The casual air Sonya brings to everything belies her fears about coming out and stepping into her true self.
As much work as the leads do to breathe life into Coley and Sonya, the story remains a bit vague. Screenwriters Kiyoko and Stefanie Scott gesture towards the girls’ backstories and motivations, but it feels like surface-level character-building instead of deeper insight. The things Coley and Sonya are going through are real (grief, bucking up against the expectations of parents vs. who you are), but it feels like the movie is only interested in taking passing glances at them. The audience is left to put together some pieces, and that’s okay, but it can make the characterizations of the girls feel a little hollow. Overall, though, Girls Like Girls offers a nice retread of the coming-of-age genre that isn’t afraid to tread into moody waters. If it reaches the right crowd, it might just make some girls feel seen – and isn’t that the real test of art?
Girls Like Girls
2026, R, 95 min. Directed by Hayley Kiyoko. Starring Maya da Costa, Myra Molloy, Zach Braff, Levon Hawke, Alozie LaRose.
This article appears in June 19 • 2026.