Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)

Australian teen Ellie is struggling to ask her classmate Abbie to the formal. That's when her Fairy Godmother shows up. She's her gay aunt Tara who died before they ever met. Tara has all kinds of advice whether Ellie wants it or not.

This is cute with a moment of emotional reveal. Ellie is a bit amateurish but there is a sweetness in that. It's the awkwardness of puppy love, no matter the sexual orientation. Dead Aunt Tara tries her best to inject irreverence into this movie. Again, it's cute. In a Hollywood production, the lead would be more experienced and prettier. This feels more awkward and that's perfectly fine.

Funny, heartfelt, beautifully acted and very well directed. This is the queer teen rom com that the world needs. As good as 'Boy'. Zanetti is the next big thing.

We see queer youths act like queer youths and we see the traumas without there being any fetishization. It is a funny, sweet and strange film in keeping with the high quality content that comes out of screen Australia. There is no hiding from the fear and pain that affects queer kids and also the past our community holds but it looks forward. The girls are quirky and unique and their realtionship is asperational without being unrealistic. It could have been longer and more elaborated but it was very fun to watch and one of the best ones, romantic comedies with drama, i have seen for a while.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It made me laugh out loud and tear up. All the characters are entertaining and well acted. It was refreshing to watch a film with such a great diversity of female characters. Most of all I really enjoyed watching such positive and healthy interactions between characters. Ellie in particular is so likable as a character (and portrayed beautifully by the actor). She communicates her feelings openly and honestly and while Abbie is more 'flawed' and uncertain they navigate their relationship in a healthy way that I think provides a good road map for teens on how to have healthy, productive relationships. I find it very heartening to see some films offering a more balanced, rational portrayal of the teenage years, something I wish had been more prevalent in my formative years.

Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) (2020) is an Australian film written and directed by Monica Zanetti.

This is a teen coming-out story, with a twist. Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) would like to ask Abbie (Zoe Terakes) to the formal dance. However, she can't quite work up the nerve to do it.

That's where Ellie's dead Aunt Tara (Julia Billington) enters the picture (literally). Ellie can see and hear Tara, and so can we, but no one else can. Tara not only wants to help--she insists on helping. It turns out that if you tell anyone you're lesbian--which Ellie does--and if you have a dead aunt who was lesbian--as Tara was--your dead aunt can return and help you.(Whimsical, but it works in this movie.)

This twist makes the film better than other movies of its type. What makes the movie great is the incredible work done by Julia Billington as Tara. She's a young actor who lights up the screen. It's worth seeing the movie just to watch her at work.

We saw this movie as part of the great ImageOut Rochester LGBTQ Film Festival. (Virtual this year.) The movie has a strong IMDb rating of 7.4. I rated it 8.