Dakota Johnson plays a late-blooming lesbian in ‘Am I OK?’
In the newly dropped trailer for the Max comedy “Am I OK?” Dakota Johnson’s character, Lucy, laments, “I’m 32 years old; I should have figured this out by now.” What Lucy is seemingly figuring out, albeit later than some, is her sexuality.
The revelation that she’s a lesbian appears to come as a surprise to Lucy, but not to her best friend, Jane (Sonoya Mizuno). When Lucy asks her friend if she ever suspected her to be gay, Jane replies, “You did want a Volvo in high school.” Lucy responds, in true sensible lesbian fashion, “Volvos are the safest cars.” (What Jane did not mention, however, was Lucy’s penchant for beanies, which should have been another clue.)
Directed by the stand-up comedian and actor Tig Notaro and her wife, the actor Stephanie Allynne, “Am I OK?” is based on the real-life coming out story of the film’s screenwriter, Lauren Pomerantz, who served as a writer for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” for over a decade. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pomerantz noted the story depicts her real-life friendship with her best friend Jessica Elbaum, who serves as a producer on the movie.
“I started writing it as a friendship movie based on our friendship. We had sort of a big fight, and then we’re friends again, but then simultaneously, I was struggling to come out. And so I realized that was the story that I really wanted to tell,” Pomerantz told the magazine.
The film had its worldwide debut more than two years ago at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and it officially comes out (pun intended) June 6 on Max.
“I’ve been waiting 3 years for this movie to come out. And true to the storyline, it’s coming out a hair later than expected. Which, if my own timeline is any indication, could be just the right time,” Pomerantz wrote on Instagram on Monday, the day the trailer was released.
In her post, Pomerantz also gave a nod to her wife and her twin toddlers. “When I wrote this movie, I didn’t think I would marry @elizabethhigginsclark, I didn’t know I would have a Freddie and an Emma. I didn’t know what a human’s first poo looked like,” she wrote. “But mostly, I didn’t know if it was all going to be ok. And now it is.”
In her interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pomerantz said she hopes others who may be going through a similar realization about their sexuality will find comfort in “Am I OK?” regardless of their age.
“My whole hope is that people out there who see it and who are struggling see it and just take the first step forward,” she said. “I just want them to know that it truly will be okay and it will be better. It’s cliche, but it’s so true.”
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