Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)

I'd look at Rotten Tomatoes and Amazon reviews for a more accurate representation of this film. So charming, so funny - clearly a low budget but it still won the AACTA award for best Indie film in Australia. I'm a good repressed queer so naturally obsessed with the English teacher.

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.

This film was brilliant. So many one-liners and funny moments, mixed in some really emotional scenes. The edge of your seat "will they?" of classic romcoms and awkwardly relatable conversations. A really fun film, whether you like AFL or not. See it!

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.

Definitely one for your teens to see. A genuine story, told with warmth, heart and some laughs. The characters truly express teen behaviour, eye rolls, stomping and all. Laughter and tears - one to watch for sure!