There’s a term that seems to immediately doom a romantic comedy from the jump — “manic pixie dream girl.” If your film features a hapless man falling in love with a girl that has all the signs of a manic pixie dream girl, then audiences are most likely going to point it out. Well, we’ll have to see how this affects “Stargirl,” aka “Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The Movie.”
As seen in the new trailer for the YA film coming to Disney+, “Stargirl” tells the story of a boy that was picked on for being unique. As a defense mechanism, he decides to go monochrome and dull. That all changes when he falls in love with the new girl at school, who seems to be the dictionary definition of the word “quirky.” She dresses in loud (but very stylish) clothing. She has no friends but is willing to step in front of the entire school to serenade everyone with her ukulele and singing skills. Oh yeah, and her name is Stargirl. See? The ultimate manic pixie dream girl. As a matter of fact, might as well change the term to Stargirl.
The film stars Grace VanderWaal, Graham Verchere, Giancarlo Esposito, Karan Brar, Darby Stanchfield, and Maximiliano Hernández. And yes, if that first name is vaguely familiar, it’s because VanderWaal is not a trained actress but rose to fame thanks to her quirky performances as a ukulele-playing singer on “America’s Got Talent” (which she won).
“Stargirl” arrives on Disney+ on March 13.
Here’s the synopsis:
“Stargirl” from Disney+ is a tender and offbeat coming-of-age story based on the critically-acclaimed, New York Times’ best-selling young adult novel about an unassuming high schooler who finds himself inexplicably drawn to the free-spirited new girl, whose unconventional ways change how they see themselves…and their world.
