Almost Adults (2016) – The Lesbian Movie That Feels Like Home (My Main Recommended Title for the Blog Post
Hey everyone. If you're a lesbian who came of age in the 2015–2018 era, there is literally zero chance you haven't watched Almost Adults at least three times while crying into ice cream or texting your best friend "this is literally us.
This little Canadian indie film dropped in 2016 starring Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis (yes, the Carmilla girls) and instantly became the ultimate lesbian comfort watch. It never got the massive mainstream push it deserved, but within the lesbian community? It spread like wildfire on Tumblr, on lesbian Facebook groups, on every "gay girl movies" Letterboxd list. And eight years later, it still holds up ridiculously well.
The plot is so simple yet so painfully real: Mackenzie (Elise) is straight, Cassie (Natasha) is newly out as lesbian, they've been best friends since childhood, and now they're trying to navigate college, breakups, hookups, and the terrifying transition into "almost adulthood" without destroying the most important relationship either of them has.
What makes it different from every other coming-out movie is that the story isn't about Cassie coming out to her family or facing homophobia or finding her first girlfriend. It's about coming out to her straight best friend and realizing that sometimes the scariest person to lose is the one who already knows everything about you.
Mackenzie's reaction when Cassie finally tells her is… not great at first. And that's what makes it feel so authentic. There's no magical "I support you 100% immediately" moment. There's awkwardness, jealousy, distance, stupid fights, and that horrible feeling when you realize your lesbian self now threatens the one relationship you thought was bulletproof.
As a lesbian who came out to my straight best friend in 2017, watching Cassie say "I think I'm into girls" and then immediately brace for impact wrecked me. Because that's exactly how it feels. You spend weeks rehearsing the conversation in your head, you pick the perfect casual moment, and then you still want to throw up.
Natasha Negovanlis plays Cassie with this quiet, sarcastic confidence that every baby lesbian recognizes instantly. The flannel shirts, the undercut phase, the way she falls hard and fast for a girl who has a boyfriend – it's all so painfully accurate it hurts. And Elise Bauman's Mackenzie is the chaotic straight friend every lesbian has had – the one who drags you to parties but doesn't understand why you can't just "find a nice guy and settle down."
The sexual tension between them is another thing the lesbian internet lost its mind over. The film never makes them canonically get together (which honestly makes it even more lesbian – we love tragic pining), but the looks? The almost-kisses? The way Cassie watches Mackenzie when she thinks no one is looking? Lesbian culture.
One of the most powerful scenes is when Mackenzie asks Cassie to help her practice kissing because she's bad at it after her breakup. And Cassie, who has been in love with her for years (fight me), agrees. It's devastating and hot and heartbreaking all at once.
But what makes Almost Adults truly special is how it captures lesbian friendship as its own kind of love story. This movie understands that for many of us, our friendships with women – especially with straight women – are the most intense relationships we'll ever have. The heartbreak when those friendships change because one of you falls in love with a girl or moves away or gets married can feel like divorce.
I still have screenshots on my phone of Cassie saying "You're my person" to Mackenzie. Because yeah, sometimes your soulmate is a straight girl who will never love you back, and that's a very specific kind of lesbian pain.
In 2025, when we have Heartstopper and The Last of Us and all these big-budget queer stories (which I love!), Almost Adults still hits different because it feels like it was made by us, for us. It was crowdfunded, it starred actual queer women, it was written and directed by women who understood that lesbian stories don't always need to be about trauma or death or discrimination to be important.
Sometimes a lesbian story can just be about two girls growing up, falling in love (with each other or with other people), making mistakes, and trying to hold onto the person who knew them before they knew themselves.
If you're a movie can make you feel seen in your messy, flannel-wearing, hopelessly-in-love-with-your-best-friend era, that's magic.
Almost Adults is available on pretty much every streaming platform now (it's on Tubi for free last I checked, you're welcome). Put it on, text your lesbian group chat, and prepare to scream "why aren't they kissing" at your TV multiple times.
Because eight years later, we're still not over it. And we never will be.
If this movie meant something to you too, drop your favorite scene in the comments. I need to know I'm not the only one still emotionally damaged by the "I don't want to be your experiment."
Forever a lesbian classic. Forever crying over Cassie in that red beanie. Forever grateful this little movie existed when we needed it most.
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