Crush (2022 film)
Crush is a 2022 American coming-of-age film directed by Sammi Cohen in her feature directorial debut from a script written by Kirsten King and Casey Rackham. The film stars Rowan Blanchard and Auliʻi Cravalho in a story about a teen girl joining her high-school track team to get closer to her crush, only to find out she is getting closer to another teammate. "Crush" is a Hulu original film released on April 29, 2022. Premise. Paige is a high-school artist who joins her school's track team just to get closer to the  girl she has a crush on. Not knowing anything about track, her coach assigns her teammate AJ to train her. As Paige and AJ's relationship develops, Paige finds herself in a dilemma over who she should be pursuing. Production. By July 2021, Kirsten King and Casey Rackham had written a script based on their own life experiences, telling a LGBTQ story that would show more queer joy growing up rather than the tales typically told simply about coming out. Sammi Cohen identified with the project, initially called "Love in Color", and signed on to direct. Rowan Blanchard and Auliʻi  Cravalho were cast in the lead shortly afterward, and shooting began in the Syracuse area of New York that summer. In March 2022, the final title was set as "Crush" with a release date set for April 29, 2022, on Hulu. Reception. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Tomris Laffly of "Variety" praised the diversity and inclusivity within the cast compared to other teen romantic comedy films, and stated that Rowan Blanchard and Auli'i Carvalho's performances successfully establish chemistry between  their characters, but found the movie too fearful to take a more plausible approach on the characters and their personas. Monita Mohan of "Collider" praised the film for focusing on coming of age more than coming out and for creating well-rounded characters, and complimented how the movie depicts same-sex relationships and gender identity as accepted in a modern society. Christy Lemire of "RogerEbert.com" rated the movie 3 out of 4 stars, praised the idea of depicting same-sex relationships as conventional in a contemporary society, and complimented the cast's performance, especially Megan Mullally's portrayal of her  character. Jude Dry of "IndieWire" gave the film a B− rating, stated that the movie stands out delivering a fresh approach on queer teen films due to its trope and humor, while saying it also manages to keep a love story and happy ending which can appeal to a broad audience.