''Support the Girls'' is a 2018 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It stars

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). Hall received critical acclaim for her role in the film '' Sup ...

, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker,

Jana Kramer Jana Rae Kramer (born December 2, 1983) Gives birthplace as Detroit, Michigan, of which Rochester Hills is a suburb. is an American actress and country music, country singer. She is known for her role as Alex Dupre on the television series ''One ...

, John Elvis,

Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. She portrayed List of Orange Is the New Black characters#Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Carrie "Big Boo" Black on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' ...

, and Victor Isaac Perez. The film had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 9, 2018, and was theatrically released on August 24, 2018, by Magnolia Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with Hall's performance earning particular praise. Hall earned nominations at the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

and Gotham Independent Film Awards and won the

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in film-making. Winners 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 20 ...

, the first African-American to win the award.

Plot

Lisa is the general manager of the sports bar and

breastaurant A breastaurant is a restaurant that requires female waiting staff to be dressed skimpily. The term dates from the early 1990s after restaurant chain Hooters opened in the United States. The format has since been adopted by other restaurants, inc ...

Double Whammies. She takes her job seriously, protecting her employees from inappropriate or rude interactions with customers. Despite her commitment to the restaurant, her incompetent boss, Ben Cubby, has repeatedly threatened to fire her. His ire is provoked when Lisa has her employees host an off-the-books car wash to raise money for an employee, Shaina, who has hit her abusive boyfriend with her car and is staying at Lisa's house. Despite Lisa's optimism, the day proves challenging: she has potential new employees to try out; an attempted robbery results in a man becoming stuck in a ventilation duct; one of her most trusted employees, Maci, turns out to be secretly dating a much older patron; another, Danyelle, is a single mother struggling with child care for her son; another gets a large tattoo of Steph Curry on her midsection despite tattoos being forbidden on employees; the bar is trying to get its cable fixed in time for a big fight that night; business is threatened by ManCave, another breastaurant developing in the area; and Lisa is separating from her depressed husband, Cameron. After Cubby scares Lisa during an episode of road rage, she calls Cameron for a ride. Cubby fires Lisa and she forces herself to leave. When she returns home she learns from Shaina that Cameron has moved out. Shaina reveals that she is back together with her boyfriend and will use the fundraising money to pay his hospital bills. Furious, Lisa forces her to return the money. That night during the big fight, Maci and Danyelle, frustrated by the loss of Lisa, sabotage the cable in protest, leading to an awkward and tense scene with the customers and an off duty police officer. Danyelle and Maci are fired soon after. The next day, Lisa, Maci, and Danyelle interview with ManCave. The interviewer tells Lisa that ManCave waitresses are unintelligent and easily replaced. Lisa, Maci and Danyelle sit on the rooftop drinking liquor stolen from Double Whammies and contemplate their future employment before letting out cathartic screams.

Cast

Production

In May 2017, it was announced Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros,

, AJ Michalka, Dylan Gelula, Junglepussy,

, and Brooklyn Decker had joined the cast of the film, with Andrew Bujalski directing from a screenplay he wrote. Sam Slater and Houston King served as producers on the film, under their Burn Later Productions and Houston King Productions banners, respectively.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in May 2017 in Texas.

Release

The film had its world premiere at

on March 9, 2018. Shortly after, Magnolia Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film was theatrically released on August 24, 2018.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Support the Girls'' handles serious themes—and a talented ensemble cast—with wit and humor, all while proving Regina Hall's talents have been woefully underutilized." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". David Fear wrote in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', "You could not ask for a better image of our country right now. You could not ask for a better American film to showcase it." Former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

named the film one of his favorites of 2018.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Support the Girls 2018 films 2018 comedy films 2018 independent films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s female buddy films 2010s feminist films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films American feminist comedy films American independent films English-language buddy comedy films English-language independent films Films about the working class Films set in restaurants Films set in Texas Films shot in Austin, Texas