‘Egghead & Twinkie’: A Sugary Good Time

Los Angeles — Happy Pride month everybody! And what better way to kick off this month than to watch an adorable and proud coming of age film. “Egghead and Twinkie” is a queer multifaceted coming-of-age, road trip, buddy and romantic comedy centered on two nerdy childhood best friends who are so comically inseparable that they even live across the street from each other. 

During their last summer together, Egghead aka Matthew Gerwig (Louis Tomeo) and Twinkie aka Vivian Harris (Sabrina Jie-A-Fa), encounter post-high school graduation obstacles —  their friendship is tested and reexamined. Egghead reveals his unrequited romantic interest to Twinkie.  

Simultaneously, Twinkie realizes and becomes comfortable owning her sexuality as a lesbian. 

After coming out to her conservative parents who aren’t accepting, Twinkie recruits Egghead much to his dismay to embark on a road trip to help meet her online crush, a DJ called B.D.And this needs to happen before Egghead moves away to attend college. On their cross country journey to Dallas, the two quarrel. But ultimately their friendship is reinforced as Twinkie becomes more confident and sure of herself, learning to open up and confide in Egghead and find love along the way. 

“Egghead and Twinkie” is the debut feature from Sarah Kambe Holland who not only wrote the screenplay and directed, but also co-produced and co-edited it. The film is an extended version of her 2019 short film of the same name and retains the same themes and charm, yet elevating it. The film is hilarious and heartwarming, bound to be a new classic and favorite among queer audiences in the Gen Z demographic. 

The visuals and direction were top notch as you can feel the inspiration from works such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.” As the characters go on their odyssey, you can see cartoons and animation crossing the screen and even little blurbs and thoughts of the characters, making the world feel more, well … animated. You really feel Twinkie’s headspace as she goes though the adventure and the film feels like a Disney Channel Original Movie for a new generation. 

Twinkie’s race is also integral to this film too. While also dealing with her feelings of lesbianism, she also deals with being a biracial Asian American girl. During her summer camp, she was called “Twinkie” for being white on the inside and yellow on the outside. Twinkie was adopted by white parents and grew up primarily in a white neighborhood, she then takes that as a nickname to reclaim and make it her own, showing her resilience. Another character in the film is the Japanese American waitress known as Jess who is an adorably awkward bisexual girl who Twinkie unexpectedly befriends over the course of the trip.

The acting is great for the two leads and supporting actors who really put their A game in this film. You can feel their emotions and the relatability of the situations they face will make you both laugh and cringe as is customary for the transitional period between high school and the rest of our lives. 

“Egghead and Twinkie” is compelling and vivacious, the antics these two get in makes you never want to see the road trip end, but even once it does, we see the hope that these characters have for themselves and the future. This story will resonate deeply for the LGBTQ audiences as Twinkie figures out that she is the author of her own story and not a blank slate for others to define her. 

5/5 taro boba teas 

“Egghead and Twinkie” is part of the Frameline 47 Film Festival from June 14 to 24 in the Bay Area. The internationally acclaimed festival features 100+ queer films, which will also be available to stream June 24 to July 2.

Zipporah “Zipp” Pruitt, (she/her) is an L.A. homegrown journalist, who covers entertainment and culture. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @zippzapps.

Edited by Nykeya Woods