Alex’s plan – In Siobhan McCarthy’s genderqueer fantasy comedy “She’s the He,” a misguided scheme to avoid suspicion forces Ethan (Misha Osherovich) to confront what she already knows. From its retro CD-and-“Drain Me!” needle drop to a climactic “Time Warp” setpiece, the fi
A retro disc player clatters, a close-up of a CD fills the screen, and the word “clatter” is doodled in sweet, handwritten style. Then a needle drop of Towa Bird’s “Drain Me!” kicks in—leaving just enough weirdness in the air to signal this teen comedy won’t behave like a standard get-ready routine.
What follows is debut filmmaker Siobhan McCarthy’s genderqueer fantasy, wrapped in something sugary on the surface and complicated underneath. Alex (Nico Carney) climbs a flight of stairs toward his best friend’s bedroom door after the music hits. shouting through the white barrier as loud pop plays.
He tells the person on the other side of the wall—still unseen at that point—that the duo needs to spend less time together so “people won’t think they’re dating.” It sounds like he’s talking to a girl, and he is.
The film’s setup may move like a prank, but the emotional impact lands fast. Ethan (Misha Osherovich) is a senior who doesn’t find the courage to come out as a transgender woman until Alex’s misguided plan to sneak into the girls’ locker room forces a reckoning with something unmistakably real.
The story reaches its most combustible idea early: Ethan’s conclusion—and Alex’s increasingly reckless escalation—means the “solution” involves not just one but two gender-expansive makeovers for the would-be college kids. It’s a provocative premise on paper: a student pretending to be trans to gain inappropriate access to another student. In a less intuitive movie. that could easily tip into backlash-chasing territory amid the widespread political panic surrounding gender identity and adolescent self-discovery in the U.S. today.
McCarthy steadies the tone instead, building “She’s the He” as something loveliest where it matters most—about friendship. It runs for 1 hour and 21 minutes. but it still manages to unpack a relationship that feels like it’s been carrying pressure long before anyone admits it out loud. The film arrives in 2026 at a moment when LGBTQ stories are often expected to justify themselves through tragedy. activism. or educational value. Here, the goofy antics land without turning the characters into props.
Even the visuals lean into the familiar language of teen movies—hallways as battlegrounds. bedrooms as sanctuaries—while the handwritten flourishes that decorate the frame persist. The carefully curated indie soundtrack adds a candy-colored optimism that makes Ethan’s interior change feel bubbly. anxious. and joyful at the same time.
Dialogue, too, sharpens the experience. In an early scene between Ethan and Alex’s crush. Sasha (Malia Pyles). the edgy but well-meaning teen casually refers to Ethan as a girl. “I’m not a girl,” Ethan replies, trying to clarify that she’s not especially “girly,” before getting cut off. Sasha snaps back: “Well, that’s transphobic!”.
It’s one of the funniest jokes in the entire misadventure because it’s doing three recognizable things at once. Sasha is affirming Ethan as a trans girl. misunderstanding Ethan as a trans girl. and—without intending to—showing how hard it can be to support someone when policing their behavior becomes easier than processing their reality.
McCarthy keeps Alex and Ethan from becoming perfect allies or perfect victims. Instead, the film leans into mostly gender-neutral growing pains, letting the friendship itself be the thing that bends under stress. Tatiana Ringsby’s Forest becomes an excellent sounding board for the friends. helping foster conversations that turn out more mature than the drag-inspired conflict initially suggests.
Suzanne Cryer brings added gravity as Ethan’s mother, Mary. The former “Silicon Valley” scene-stealer grounds the movie with an elegant portrait of parental fear—caring without coddling. serious about her kid’s safety without turning cruel. And even as the would-be bullies get pulled into the mess. the film refuses to flatten people into PSA talking points.
As Ethan’s revelation and Alex’s “spectacularly terrible scheme” spiral out of control. “She’s the He” never settles into a stale dynamic defined only by trans adolescence. The conflict feels contemporary without leaning into cynicism, and the core relationship stakes feel real without tipping into hopelessness.
Still, the film doesn’t always feel fully packed. Some of the zanier gags rush by too quickly to land the way they seem built to. Alex’s over-egged boyishness occasionally pushes Nico Carney close to Frankie Muniz territory. and that distance can make him less believable when it counts most. Carney remains hugely entertaining. though. and his chemistry with Osherovich is infectious enough to keep the mood moving when it risks losing momentum.
At times, the movie feels surprisingly slight at just 81 minutes. McCarthy invents personas so weird and appealing that you wish they had more room to exist. Even Aparna Nancherla’s delightfully eccentric teacher feels like a comic weapon only partly deployed.
By the time “She’s the He” reaches its climactic sequence set to “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ” the film has already built a landscape for fresh queer storytelling that feels both grounded and otherworldly. The ending includes “vomit, bloody tampons, and Ingrid Michaelson,” and somehow even that lands as triumphant rather than merely chaotic.
If it occasionally leaves you wanting more space to sit with its strangest ideas, it also offers something rare in its own category: a sense of hope that doesn’t need tragedy to prove itself. Watching Ethan dare to imagine a future for herself is a feeling the film doesn’t want to keep to itself.
The verdict from the review: Grade: B+.
“She’s the He” opened in New York on June 5 and in Los Angeles on June 19. It’s available on VOD starting June 30.
She’s the He Siobhan McCarthy Nico Carney Misha Osherovich Ethan Alex Sasha trans teen comedy SXSW LGBTQ comedy Time Warp Ingrid Michaelson VOD June 30