Crush (2022)

When an aspiring young artist is forced to join her high school track team, she uses it as an opportunity to pursue the girl she's been harboring a long-time crush on. But she soon finds herself falling for an unexpected teammate and discovers what real love feels like.

5.0 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4.5 / 5

POPSCORE

Representation

Latino/a

LGBTQ

teri elam

May 15, 2022

5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4.5 / 5

POPSCORE

I've Got A 'Crush' On You...And I'm Not Too Old To Say It

I'm a lifelong believer in crushes. I believe that a crush is how the deepest friendships often begin. I think they're the lifeblood of youthfulness regardless of any "hyphenated age category," which in my case is a little (lot) older than high schoolers. Still, you cannot tell me I'm not a kid again when I'm crushing out. I believe a crush is not just about romance; it can be platonic, familial, or even vocational. However, the boss/employee crush is ill-advised, especially if you're the boss. Nevertheless, a crush in its purest form is just what the doctor ordered for what ails any and all of us—and perhaps a way to even achieve world peace. Now that I'm through with my Senior Class President campaign speech, I'll get to the movie. I'll admit watching Crush made me a smidge jealous. My days at Glenn Hills High don't remotely compare to that of Crush's Miller High—nor did most of my friends' experiences compare. I'm not even sure my niece, a current junior, has this same openness; we live in the South. But it's Hulu, and I love to lose myself inside the possibility of what life would be if it were normal that 60% of the population were Queer. I immediately related to the lead character, Paige Evans (Rowan Blanchard). Not because I was anything like her in high school, but because I would've been so much happier had I been. A free-spirited Queer artist, Paige represents that kid who knows who they are early on (even if they don't know it yet). But life and movies, if not boring, are more complicated than that. Paige faces a few issues: creating an art portfolio competitive for her dream school, CalArts; finding out who KingPun (the Banksy of Miller High) is to avoid suspension, and getting her forever crush to like her. And that’s the foundation of this story. Paige and Gabriela Campos (Isabella Ferreira) have a history. They co-Mom'd Lentil The Egg as middle schoolers, an old-school activity foreshadowing an LGBTQ twist. Crush is unlike most high school flicks I've seen lately or ever, namely The Half of It,

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