Movie review: Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat endearing as 'Wrong Girls'
by Fred Topel · UPILOS ANGELES, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The Wrong Girls, in theaters Friday, is a lovably goofy comedy. Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat unapologetically play two stoners in trouble with delightful glee.
Molly (Shawkat) and Frankie (Stewart) are late on rent that they hope to pay tomorrow when Molly turns in her spreadsheets. That night, Frankie confronts her ex-boyfriend (Morgan Krantz) for dating a lookalike, Frances (Stewart).
Mistaking her for Frances, Dave (LaKeith Stanfield) gives Frankie a briefcase full of experimental chemicals. Frankie and Molly try to sell the contents of the briefcase, but not before trying it out themselves.
Written and directed by Dylan Meyer, The Wrong Girls follows a tradition of "one wild night" comedies and stoner duos, often overlapping in the same film as they do here. The characters and the shenanigans they get into are strong enough to make The Wrong Girls fun.
Stewart and Shawkat seem happiest when they get to stumble around babbling about nonsense. They perform endearing physical comedy trying to act smooth, not being subtle at all when soliciting partygoers with their stash.
They even bring up drugs blatantly in their fake conversations that are supposed to convey casual normalcy. Frankie and Molly also share such a bond that they converse telepathically and some of the best jokes are in their voiceovers.
Incompetence can be frustrating when someone is in a position to impact outcomes. Molly and Frankie have no impact so it is amusing to watch them fumble about. They're just so happy despite all their failures.
Naturally, their schemes fail but introduce them to more opportunities for new schemes. Their blackmail scheme involves incriminating photos that still stand out in a genre that has seen everything from There's Something About Mary to Jackass.
Colorful characters come looking for the briefcase too. Three hitmen (Thomas La Barbera Christensen, Thor Knai and Thomas Nicholson) wear white suits and are germphobic. Dr. Rosen (Kate McKinnon) is the scientist working on the formula who needs their help to get it back.
Because they combined her formula with marijuana, it gives Frankie and Molly special abilities. Those abilities allow Stewart and Shawkat to make more new faces when they use them.
Frankie and Molly are every bit as endearing as Cheech and Chong or Harold and Kumar. They would be fun to watch in further adventures and given their propensity for screwing up, it shouldn't take much to get them in trouble again.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.