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The Wrong Girls Review: Stoners Save the World
If you mix together giant squids, weed-enhanced ESP, and Danish henchmen, you get this summer’s delightful stoner comedy The Wrong Girls. This directorial debut from screenwriter Dylan Meyer (XOXO, Moxie) stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as two best friends, strapped for cash and always high, who find themselves at the center of a government intrigue. It’s a stoner girl comedy in the grand tradition of Gregg Araki’s Smiley Face (2007) – just with a few more shootouts in the mix.
Stanford dropout Frankie (Stewart) and her roommate Molly (Shawkat) spend their days taking hits from an elaborately crafted bong (dubbed the Bongatron) and watching nature docs with their cats. When a case of mistaken identity results in Frankie receiving a briefcase full of experimental drugs, she decides the best way to solve their looming rent debt is to take a dose and sell off the rest. What ensues is a series of madcap adventures, as Frankie and Molly find themselves imbued with both telepathic and telekinetic powers from the drugs.
It’s a goofy premise sold by Meyer’s loving portrayal of female friendship. Frankie and Molly are completely in sync even before the telepathy sets in – waking and baking together, snacking on the gourmet munchies Molly whips up, and scraping by on gig work. Neither are particularly ambitious: Frankie’s got hangups from her failed college career, and Molly’s aspirations of becoming a chef are curtailed by her fear of working in a restaurant. Their codependency and mutual aimlessness is shown at first as a punchline (like when the girls tune out and telepathically chitchat with each other whenever someone tries to explain the conspiracy they’ve landed in), and later as a real conflict. Their friendship and character arcs feel real thanks not only to Meyer’s script but also to Stewart and Shawkat’s natural camaraderie and comedic chemistry.
It may be Stewart and Shawkat’s movie, but they’re complemented by the rest of the cast. LaKeith Stanfield is an excellent straight man, playing the hired gun who has to suffer through the girls’ antics as he tries to get the briefcase of drugs in the right hands. Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani are given the very funny bit of voicing Frankie and Molly’s beloved cats Dio and GG, who turn out to be assholes in the way only cats can be. Kate McKinnon is especially hilarious and Scandinavian-accented as Dr. Chapman, the socially awkward scientist responsible for creating the telepathic drugs. And all these oddball characters populate a very charming world onscreen, brought to life with whimsical production design and practical effects.
The Wrong Girls could be a little tighter in some places – particularly with characters not fully explored, like Tony Hale’s uber-wealthy tech bro or Geena Davis’ government agent. But the sense of style and heart from Meyer make this a promising debut.
The Wrong Girls2026, R, 99 min. Directed by Dylan Meyer. Starring Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat, LaKeith Stanfield, Zack Fox, Tony Hale.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.The post The Wrong Girls Review: Stoners Save the World appeared first on The Austin Chronicle.