For a lot of queer people, the holidays can be a tumultuous time. As we grow older, there often is an uncomfortably increasing expectation to bring home a partner for Christmas or Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for queer people who are not out to their families, this can also be an anxiety-inducing event in which pressure is put on them to embrace heteronormativity; For the queer people who want to come out, there are often expectations, whether from themselves or society, to make it a big event. Some people may try to come out on a big holiday like Thanksgiving when their family is gathered around the table, but coming out, especially to a dysfunctional conservative family, does not always go as planned.
The 2018 romantic comedy “Lez Bomb” perfectly encapsulates what it is like trying to come out to a white suburban family on a holiday so loud and hectic that you can hardly get a word in edgewise. It follows Lauren (Jenna Laurenzo), a young woman living in New Jersey who tries to come out to her family by introducing them to her girlfriend Hailey (Caitlin Mehner) on Thanksgiving.
Things go awry when Lauren’s male roommate Austin (Brandon Micheal Hall) shows up before Hailey, leading Lauren’s family to assume they are a couple immediately. Attempt after attempt to assure her family that they are not in a relationship keeps making things worse and worse, and Hailey begins to fear that Lauren prizes her fragile fake identity as a straight woman more than their relationship. The longer the night goes on while Lauren is still unable to drop the “Lez Bomb,” as Austin puts it, the more the family dynamic dissolves into chaos.
While it might first appear to be a simple comedy about a white suburban Thanksgiving, “Lez Bomb” has much more heart than you might think. As well as queerness, the movie also touches on the loss of a loved one. Lauren’s mother, Rose (Deirdre O’Connell), is grappling with the fact that this is the first Thanksgiving since the death of her father. Trying to fill the gap that someone has left and get through a holiday is a familiar feeling for those who have experienced loss. The film tackles this subject with thoughtfulness and grace, a bittersweet subplot to the movie’s main humorous storyline.
The film also tackles what it is like to try to be accepted as a queer person, not just by your family but also by yourself. When people figure out that they are queer, there can often be a lot of fear over what others will think and what their future will look like now. Some people try to push away who they are and mold themselves into something they think they should be. Lauren grapples with this throughout “Lez Bomb,” avoiding coming out to keep up the heterosexual facade she is used to hiding under. Ultimately, acceptance comes not from others but from within.
As Lauren says in the film after coming out, “I was so worried that you guys wouldn’t be okay with it, that I never stopped to think if I was.”
“Lez Bomb” is an incredibly relatable movie that queer people everywhere will find kinship with. It is hilarious, incredibly well-acted, and well written and it has many heartfelt moments that warm you up inside as the cold weather comes closer. This is the perfect queer film for the Thanksgiving season, waiting for you to cozy up beneath a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate to watch the chaos unfold.