The Wrong Girls rolls into theaters on August 14.
By Elazar Abrahams
Written and directed by Dylan Meyer in her feature directorial debut, The Wrong Girls stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as Frankie and Molly, two broke, pot-loving best friends whose lives spiral after a case of mistaken identity pulls them into a mind-altering conspiracy.
On paper, it reads like the kind of comedy where even the throwaway scenes should have life. But the movie never develops the comic momentum it needs. It’s a total dud.
That is especially disappointing given Seth Rogen’s involvement as a producer. Rogen, along with Evan Goldberg and their Point Grey banner, has been central to so many defining modern stoner comedies and absurd hangout movies. Here, you don’t feel those fingerprints.
The best thing The Wrong Girls has going for it is the watchability of Stewart and Shawkat. Shawkat remains one of the most underrated actresses we have in indie films, and Stewart is someone I will almost always be happy to watch for 90 minutes. Together, they have an easy, scruffy appeal that gives the movie a baseline energy. You believe them as two people who have built an entire messy little world around each other, weed, and bad decisions.
But even they are tested here. The movie asks a lot of its central duo, often requiring them to sell jokes that are not funny enough or plot turns that feel like they were thrown in because the movie needed to get weirder. Stewart and Shawkat commit, and that commitment counts for something, but commitment can only carry a comedy so far.
The talking cat bit is probably the clearest example of the movie briefly finding the right wavelength. It is dumb and silly. Yet too often, The Wrong Girls feels like it is waiting for the premise itself to be funny. The characters being high still needs jokes. This joint is forgettable and limp.
The Wrong Girls has the right girls, but in the wrong movie.
I give The Wrong Girls a D+.
