KO Review First Girl I Loved

A KO Review by Emily Mody

First Girl I Loved is a feature length narrative film directed by Kerem Sanga. This is a coming of age story that follows a seventeen-year-old girl named Anne (played by Dylan Gulula). When Anne falls in love with a girl from her high school named Sasha (played by Brianna Hildebrand) and decides to tell her best friend Clifton (played by Mateo Arias), things get complicated. Anne realizes that Cliff is in love with her and he proceeds to do anything he can to get in her way while she pursues Sasha.

I am not sure how to begin to describe how much I loved this film. The more I think about it, I more I fall in love with it. I feel as though this story captures the adolescent confusion that surrounds growing up so perfectly. The actors were amazing. All of the relationships seemed so real and authentic that I felt like I could reach out and touch them. The script was perfection. I have not had the pleasure of experiencing work from Kerem Sanga before but I sincerely look forward to seeing his other films and what he plans on doing in the future.

As you can probably tell from the description, First Girl I Loved deals with the self-discovery of Anne’s sexuality. I have no personal connections to a homosexual or gay lifestyle but this story seemed to treat that journey very realistically and respectfully. The subject matter of the film is very interesting but I honestly just loved the interrelationship with all the characters. The story was so beautifully crafted. Seriously, go see this film. It was just so good.         

I would compare First Girl I Loved to the film Juno directed by Jason Reitman, which I also adored. The two films share much of the same indie vibe and a similar story about a young girl struggling through the process of growing up. I would describe Juno as more of a comedy than First Girl I Loved though. First Girl I Loved is still humorous in parts but does not have you laughing out loud the way Juno does. Humour is not the focus of First Girl I Loved but regardless, as I stated earlier, it is so amazing and still funny too. If you enjoyed Juno you would enjoy First Girl I Loved as well. I am honestly not sure what else I can say that will convince you to go see this film other than just do it. You will not regret it.

First Girl I Loved runs a total of 91 minutes. If you are a sensitive viewer it is important to note that this film contains underage drinking, sexual content, and language. First Girl I Loved will be premiering internationally as a part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival(CUFF). It will be playing on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at the Globe Cinema Upstairs at 9:30pm.