Dakota Johnson Is a Later-in-Life Lesbian In Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allyne’s Am I Okay?
Deeply beloved and hilarious queer couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allyne’s directorial debut Am I Ok?, based on a true story, screened at Sundance in January 2022, but those of us who did not attend Sundance have been unable to access the film for our own lesbian purposes. Luckily that all changes on June 6th when Am I Okay? debuts on Max.
Am I Okay? stars Dakota Johnson as 32-year-old Lucy. Lucy dodges romantic relationships and isn’t quite sure who she is so she sits at her desk and draws lines on a piece of paper. Her best friend has a hot bob and a nice leather jacket and she’s named Jane, played by Sonoya Mizuno. Lucy she googles “Am I a Lesbian?” and unfortunately neither the Lesbian Masterdoc or our Am I Gay? quiz comes up, leaving her with only a weird, probably terrible website upon which to find answers. Then she meets Brittany, played by beloved queer actor Kiersey Clemons. There is a spark! But she hesitates to make a move! She drinks a cocktail in a bar with her pals. She dances with ER Fightmaster! It’s you know, a late-in-life lesbian coming out story.
But is it any good?
Overall, reviews were mixed back in 2022, with some calling it “a love letter to female friendship and the shifting priorities of adulthood” and others noting that it “squanders the quality of its central performances.” Drew was not a fan when she saw it, writing, “There’s nothing inherently wrong with a movie being formulaic and cliché. Not every queer movie needs to break new ground. But when a movie stars Dakota Johnson and hits the same story beats as so many other movies, it can’t get away with being mediocre.”
Other Queer Pop Culture Stories For Your Day:
+ Ayo Edebiri is on the cover of Vanity Fair, speaking on topics including her friendship with Jeremy Allen White: “Work can be a very intimate thing and a very personal thing and a very emotional thing, and I think when you’re also in industries that are creative or creative adjacent, I think there’s something that also invokes feelings of passion. Also, boy’s got some beautiful blue eyes. You know what I mean? Those are eyes you want to project onto.”
+ Also Hunter Schafer is on the cover of Vogue Italia
+ How “Right” and “Wrong” Ways to Be Queer Are Changing Fiction
+ Emma Corrin Details “Vitriol” They’ve Faced Since Coming Out as Queer and Nonbinary
+ Cate Blanchett program announces first 11 women, trans, and nonbinary filmmakers to support: each winner will get $50,000 to support the creation of a short film that will serve as a “proof of concept” for a larger-scale project.
+ Why Fans Think Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ Could Be a Double Album
