Writer-director Siobhan McCarthy’s comedy She’s the He takes an unusual approach to the coming out film: Two high school seniors, on the verge of graduation, concoct a scheme to pretend to be transgender in order for one of them, Alex (Nico Carney), to win the romantic attention of a classmate named Sasha (Malia Pyles). Things don’t go quite to plan when Ethan (Misha Osherovich), initially reluctant, realizes to her surprise and delight that she actually is transgender.

Their adventure gains them entrée into the close-knit circle of a group of friends that includes not just Sasha but also the non-binary Forest (Tatiana Ringsby) and becomes an opportunity for them to get to know fellow student Davis (Mark Indelicato) who is universally loathed for having pretended to be gay in a similar gambit. Or… is he pretending? Meantime, a pack of obnoxious jocks led by the smug quarterback Jacob (Emmett Preciadol) and his bromantic sidekick Brent (Kyle Butenhoff) are on a collision course with this band of misfits, leading to a graduation day that will forever change the school.

McCarthy’s script is a bubbly concoction full of sharp one-liners: “I look like my aunt who makes cheap jewelry in Tucson,” Ethan frets while trying out various outfits borrowed from the school’s theater, before catching sight of Alex’s getup and adding, “And you look like you’d wear it!” At another moment, the straight Alex, sick of being assumed to be gay, complains, “I’m a pussytarian and this shit is giving me an eating disorder.” The film’s story beats, while following a familiar general pattern, are inventive and rejuvenate the teen sex comedy genre. There is one jarring moment in which a clash between groups sees a snarling man wield a baseball bat in an attack against a queer character — a viscerally horrific moment given the history of homophobic attacks in real life and the trope of the baseball bat in the hands of vicious assailants. The moment is couched in cartoonish mayhem, but that does little to correct its tone-deaf landing.

Still, the film is a showcase for McCarthys talents as a director, Carney’s skill as a funnyman (he is a trans comedian in real life), and Osherovich’s ability to tackle comic and dramatic moments alike. The rest of the cast are clearly having fun, which gives the movie likeability and momentum, along with Heartstopper-style animated elements that illustrate, punctuate, and enliven key moments. A fresh and breezy movie, She’s the He does what queer movies ought to: It brings the fun while saying something serious. McCarthy skewers genitalia panic — let’s face it, that’s what much of the anti-trans pearl-clutching comes down to — and makes a compelling case for understanding trans people as exactly who they say they are: People living in gender-discordant bodies whose efforts to live freely and fully deserve nothing but respect.

She’s the He is currently streaming on premium platform

Watch the trailer: