GIRLS LIKE GIRLS — Raw, Teenage Love

Review by Steve Barton II

Have you ever known a movie that’s been made inspired by a hit song? There have been several over the years from Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler and Julie Brown’s Earth Girls Are Easy that became popular movies in the 1980s. When you ask the question “Have any of those songwriters wrote or directed the film adaptations of their song?” and that population pool shrinks in size. Former child actress Hayley Kiyoko began her music career in 2013 and in 2015 wrote the song Girls Like Girls for her second EP The Side of Paradise. Girls Like Girls was released as a single in June of 2015 and a hit for the queer community. In 2023, Kiyoko adapted this song into a young adult novel and a music video that acts as a continuation of the story from the song. After creating those adaptations successfully, Hayley made the decision (with the encouragement of many fans) to create a feature film around Girls Like Girls and in 2026, it’s finally coming out! Girls Like Girls follows Coley (Maya de Costa) as a teenager trying to navigate life after the tragic loss of her mother. During the beautiful Oregon summer, she meets the mysterious and secretive Sonya (Myra Molloy) and quickly develops feelings for her. With both of them struggling with their own feelings of self-doubt and fear of being ostracized, their complex relationship is a rollercoaster.


With Hayley Kiyoko having prior experience on sets as an actress, she made finding the director’s chair an easy task. Unlike many other projects, pre-production for Girls Like Girls has technically been in the works for several years over all its individual adaptations. With the project always being in her hands, she was able to carefully craft a deeply personal story that many queer people will see themselves in. Everything from her music as the instrumental score backing the emotional scenes to how the teens speak to one another using AIM on their old desktop computers all felt like personal touches from her life. Putting so much of herself into this project gives the feeling that the audience is a fly on the wall watching her diary play out for our entertainment.

Girls Like Girls has a wonderful cast of young actors and actresses, but the two leading ladies are bright stars to watch out for. Maya da Costa as Coley plays the character with such a shy and guarded girl perfectly while Myra Molloy plays Sonya as the perfect “girl next door” who everyone pines after but harbors her true feelings, in fear of judgement from her peers. This dynamic between the girls feels so real with how it began as a crush and blossomed from a loving friendship into a secret love affair. Many young queer people exploring their feelings will see the relationship displayed in Girls Like Girls and see that they aren’t so lonely in their life story that looks nothing like most of the previous coming-of-age dramas that preceded it.


In the end, Girls Like Girls is a beautiful coming-of-age story dealing with grief and feelings of inadequacy that many queer people will celebrate for years to come! Both Maya and Myra show vulnerability and emotional intelligence with their performances and that’s incredibly rare to find in such young talent. Rounding out the cast with a seasoned veteran like Zach Braff to play Coley’s father really elevates the material even higher than previously imagined. His scenes with Coley and breaking down their own relationship will have anyone with daddy issues reflecting on their past and probably shedding a tear or seven. If you’re a fan of coming-of-age stories or a fan of Hayley Kiyoko’s iconic song, run out and see Girls Like Girls! 


Girls Like Girls is in theaters starting June 19th!


Rating: 4/5