Like most queer people going to high school in the early 2000s, I lived for lesbian romance But I’m a cheerleader and combed through other female-led films like Charlie’s Angels And Josie and the Pussycats for queer subtext. And yet somehow I completely missed a lesbian spy comedy with the title DEBSwritten and directed by Angela Robinson (The L word, True blood).
Please don’t take away my gay card if you’re reading this and grew up watching DEBS over and over. I missed it, okay?? Feel sorry for me, but don’t judge me. And for the rest of you who have never gotten around to witnessing Jordana Brewster’s hilarious performance as lesbian supervillain Lucy Diamond, buckle up and get ready to hear about your future favorite movie.
The film’s premise is based on a delicious urban legend from the 2000s that standardized tests in America contain secret screening questions for teenagers who would be suitable for a career in espionage. In the world of DEBS, this urban legend is reality, and no one has ever lived up to the standards better than our heroine Amy (Sara Foster). For some reason, Amy just seems to have a real knack for pretending to be someone she’s not. Turns out that’s because she’s even that far in the closet she doesn’t know she’s a lesbian. Lying to yourself is the most advanced form of lying you can ever do!
Just like the heroine of But I’m a cheerleader, Amy has a pushy boyfriend and a strange fascination with an evil brunette (the aforementioned Lucy Diamond), but it all takes place in a slapstick spy world reminiscent of the Charlie’s Angels films (albeit on a lower budget – it is indie queer cinema). so of course we forgive). Jimmy Simpson (Westworld) is there too DEBSplays Lucy Diamond’s cohort, who is a total weirdo and reminiscent of everything Alan Cumming did in Josie and the Pussycats. It all feels like a movie that I should have watched a billion times as a teenager, a queer kid who loved screwball comedies.
I need to make up for lost time as an adult, and maybe you do too. Unfortunately, it’s not streaming anywhere, but don’t let that stop you. me now own DEBS on DVDbut you can also continue to rent it Prime Video, Youtube, Google Play, AppleTVor Vudu.
