Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her L.A. public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton—who has always harbored a secret crush on her—he does his best to get in the way.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Dylan GelulaAnne
- Brianna HildebrandSasha
- Mateo AriasClifton
- Pamela AdlonSharon
- Tim HeideckerMr. Q
- Cameron EspositoJasmine
- John RedlingerJohnny Glasses
- Dominic FloresJorge Basanez
- Jennifer PredigerAssistant Principal Heather Wiggins
- Erik GriffinMr. Maldonado
Recommendations
- 83
IndieWire
One of the most compelling things about Karem Sanga’s raw and emotionally radiant First Girl I Loved is how well it captures the heart-pounding terror of becoming someone, the one-way nausea of committing to yourself. - 83
The Playlist
Sanga’s roundabout storytelling and sensitive exploration of contemporary issues around sexual identity and consent makes First Girl I Loved a sophisticated and complex teenage coming of age story. It’s Gelula’s performance that brings the emotional weight necessary to drive the story forward. - 70
New York Magazine (Vulture)
The way the narrative starts and stops and doubles back mirrors the characters’ own confusion. We try to make sense of the story along with them — who did what, said what, when, and what did it really mean. - 67
Consequence
What writer and director Kerem Sanga captures so well in First Girl I Loved is high school. What he captures even better is falling in love, or the naïve idea of what it means to be in love as a teenager. - 50
Variety
This watchable but middling drama tackles a worthy, relatable subject without quite figuring out what to say about it. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
A small, sympathetic story of a teenage girl’s rough coming out is smothered by a pile of far-fetched melodrama, a loathsomely obnoxious male lead character and far too much unsteadicam visual randomness in First Girl I Loved.
