“Girls Like Girls” is Hayley Kiyoko’s feature directorial debut, released as a coming-of-age romance centered on two teenage girls who fall for each other during summer break. Multiple outlets describe the film as translating Kiyoko’s earlier work into a longer narrative, building from her 2015 hit song “Girls Like Girls” and its accompanying music video, which helped introduce the track’s explicit sapphic message into mainstream viral culture. Several reviews and profiles note that the project also draws from Kiyoko’s best-selling youth novel adaptation of the song, turning teenage longing and first-love feelings into a film version.
Critics broadly focus on themes of queer yearning, adolescent melancholy, and the emotional intensity of first love. Reviews characterize the direction as warm and assured, while also highlighting that some aspects can feel predictable or uneven. The cast includes Zach Braff, who co-stars alongside Kiyoko. Overall coverage emphasizes the unusual development path from pop single to book and then to feature film, with outlets framing the release as part of a broader moment for sapphic storytelling.
