Girls Like Girls
TL;DR: Hayley Kiyoko's directorial debut lands June 19, 2026—a coming-of-age romance about grief and first love that critics are treating seriously (88% on Rotten Tomatoes). It's rated R, 95 minutes, and available on major streaming platforms. If you want a queer love story that doesn't soften its emotional edges, this one's worth tracking down.
The story: grief, displacement, and why Coley can't let anyone in
Girls Like Girls follows Coley, a teenager reeling from her mother's death, who moves to Oregon and reconnects with her distant father. Then she meets Sonya. What makes this premise stick isn't the romance alone—it's the collision: a girl who's been forced to build walls around her heart, and someone patient enough to wait outside them.
The film's tagline, "Love begins when you let it in," isn't just marketing. It's the entire thesis. This is a story about what happens when you're grieving and falling in love at the same time, when those two things can't be separated. Maya da Costa plays Coley, Myra Molloy plays Sonya, with Zach Braff and Levon Hawke in supporting roles that reportedly don't overshadow the central relationship.
At 95 minutes and rated R, the film doesn't waste time on setup. It moves deliberately—which means if you need constant plot momentum to stay engaged, it might feel slower than it is. But that restraint is kind of the point.
How this film came to exist: from song to novel to cinema
Here's what makes Girls Like Girls unusual: Hayley Kiyoko didn't adapt someone else's IP for her feature directorial debut. She wrote the source material herself.
The story started as a song. In June 2015, Kiyoko released "Girls Like Girls" as part of her This Side of Paradise EP, directing the music video herself alongside Austin S. Winchel. That video became a touchstone for queer teenagers who hadn't seen their experience rendered that directly on screen. Then, in 2023, she expanded it into a novel. Now comes the film—the third iteration of the same story, each one going deeper.
For the screenplay, Kiyoko collaborated with Stefanie Scott and Chloe Okuno, bringing in outside craft without diluting the personal origins. The production lineup matters too: Focus Features, Marc Platt Productions, BuzzFeed Studios, and CR8IV DNA. Marc Platt has indie-prestige credentials. Focus Features doesn't greenlight projects that feel disposable. That combination signals something about the film's backing—this wasn't a rushed passion project.
What critics are actually saying
The reviews landed warm but not unanimous. The New York Times called it "a warm, emotionally rich coming-of-age story." IndieWire was more measured, noting the script feels uneven in places but the emotional core is genuine—and honestly, that's fair. There's real value in a film that knows exactly who it's for and serves them well.
As of late June 2026, the aggregates sit at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes (17 reviews) and 73 out of 100 on Metacritic (9 critics). Those aren't breakout numbers, but they're legitimately good, especially for a debut feature in a genre critics don't always take seriously.
What I keep coming back to is how much the film's credibility rests on Kiyoko's position as author-director. She's not interpreting someone else's queer narrative—she's translating her own. That kind of creative ownership tends to produce something with genuine emotional stakes. You can feel the difference between a filmmaker who lived something and one who researched it. A specific scene in the second act, where Coley's grief and her feelings for Sonya collide in a way that's neither tidy nor resolved, has drawn praise for its restraint. The film doesn't rush to fix what it just broke open.
The R rating is worth flagging. Sapphic coming-of-age stories often get softened for broader audiences. This one didn't. That choice signals the film's intentions—it's not trying to be safe.
Where to watch—and what's available now
Girls Like Girls opened June 19, 2026 on theatrical release. As of now, streaming rights are still rolling out. Check the where-to-watch widget at the top of this page for the current breakdown across platforms—Netflix, Prime Video, and others get updated as new distribution deals land.
Focus Features titles typically follow a theatrical window before moving to digital, and this release appears to follow that pattern. Hard to say yet if a single platform will carry it exclusively or if it'll scatter across multiple services. Movie OTT's streaming tracker updates as rights deals get finalized, so if it's not on your preferred service yet, it's worth bookmarking and checking back.
No box office figures have been reported in available sources, and it's too early for awards-season momentum. But the critical foundation is there.
Who should actually watch this
If you want a first-love story that takes grief seriously and doesn't flinch from the messiness of figuring out who you are, this is worth your time. The pacing is deliberate. The emotional register is quiet rather dramatic. It won't be for everyone.
But if you've connected with films like Moonlight or Portrait of a Lady on Fire—stories that move slow and trust you to sit with uncomfortable feelings—here's your next one. Movie OTT tracks new releases and where they land, so you can set a reminder the moment it hits your streaming service.
Start with the original music video if you haven't seen it. Then the novel if you want more context. Then the film. Each version adds something different.
