The Wrong Girls, the feature directorial debut of Dylan Meyer, opens in theatres on August 14 through Neon. The stoner buddy comedy stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as two aimless best friends who accidentally come into possession of an experimental drug that gives them telepathic abilities and puts them in the crosshairs of some very dangerous people. Meyer wrote the screenplay alongside Stewart, and the film is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures, among others. The critical response has been mixed, with genuine affection for the central chemistry and sharper criticism directed at the writing, genre mechanics and the squandering of a premise with enormous potential.
Frankie, played by Kristen Stewart, and Molly, played by Alia Shawkat, are roommates and best friends living a pleasantly aimless life in Los Angeles. They are stoners behind on their rent, loosely pursuing abandoned dreams and mostly just riffing off each other with genuine warmth. When a case of mistaken identity leads a shady agent, played by LaKeith Stanfield, to hand Frankie a briefcase containing experimental drugs, the two of them do what any reasonable people would do: they try them.
The drug gives them the ability to understand what their cats are thinking and saying, with Kumail Nanjiani and Seth Rogen providing their voices, while also attracting a trio of European criminals determined to get the substance back. Dr. Olsen, played by Kate McKinnon, eventually enters the picture to explain what the drug actually does. The supporting cast also includes Tony Hale, Zack Fox, Geena Davis and Taj Cross.
The response to The Wrong Girls sits clearly in mixed territory, and the reviews all circle around the same central observation: the leads are the best thing in the film, and the film does not always deserve them. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as a loving ode to the power of friendship and THC, summarising it as a story where no one who encounters Frankie and Molly—not the criminals, not the drug’s inventor and not even their own cats—believes in them. Only they believe in each other. That emotional foundation is the film’s most reliable asset.
Screen Daily called it an affable stoner comedy with kooky chemistry between its leads, describing it as uneven and irreverent, with rough patches, but ultimately carried by a genially ridiculous tone. Awards Radar‘s Joey Magidson was more measured, describing it as a film that hints at greatness and is fun when it commits to its weirdness, but winds up being only fair when it plays things too safe.
One of the areas of strongest agreement across the reviews is Kristen Stewart’s performance. The Hollywood Reporter called it excellent, noting that the film uses descriptions such as “drunk dingbat,” “hot-ass mess” and “dumb turkey” for Frankie, and that Stewart plays all of it with complete commitment and real comic timing.
Awards Radar’s Magidson wrote that Stewart is able to mix smart and stupid in a way that almost overcomes the film’s narrative missteps, whether mourning a beloved buffet closing, quitting the moment things get hard or verbally jousting with every person she encounters. Variety called her a natural, describing her performance as the discovery that she is a gifted physical comedian with an ear for the anarchic rhythms of stoner repartee.
Rendy Reviews praised the central duo’s dynamic, noting that the film is a genuine celebration of female friendship that does not lean on romantic tension or meta humour, but instead plays its looniness as straightforwardly as possible.
Alia Shawkat has also been praised warmly, though slightly less consistently than Stewart. Awards Radar noted that she is very good and has great chemistry with Stewart, but is playing a character type she has inhabited before, suggesting the role does not stretch her as much as the film needed it to. Screen Daily called the chemistry between the two leads the film’s primary selling point and described it as kooky in the best way.
The supporting cast receives a more divided response. The Hollywood Reporter praised Nanjiani and Rogen’s vocal work as the cats, calling them fun choices. Kate McKinnon’s performance drew more mixed reactions, with Awards Radar calling her too broad, while Variety described her as a comedic MVP. The Variety review also noted that Stanfield once again proves himself to be a performer who can fit into any genre or ensemble. It praised a Geena Davis cameo for evoking Thelma and Louise, another celebrated film about female friendship, albeit one with a considerably darker ending than this one.
The screenplay is where most critics found the most to question. Flickering Myth gave the film two stars out of five, arguing that the characters are stranded in genre clichés and that the film confoundingly does not take full advantage of its supernatural premise until well into the third act. The review pointed to the cats’ vocal performances as unexpectedly funnier than anything the human leads are given and suggested that centring the cats might have been the smarter creative choice.
Awards Radar echoed the structural criticism, noting that the action and thriller elements feel generic and that the film’s middle act runs too long, building to a shootout finale that feels both out of place and too conventional for what came before. Screen Daily described the film as uneven, acknowledging its rough patches while arguing that its overall tone carries it through. Screen Rant was the most direct, calling the jokes flat and suggesting some viewers may not crack a smile at all.
On a technical level, the film received consistent praise for its visual choices. Variety highlighted cinematographer Todd Banhazl’s work, describing a bright, saturated palette with hazy filtered light, Dutch angles and wide lenses that create a convincing 1990s retro-druggie aesthetic. Composer Ty Segall’s psych-surf rock guitar score was also noted, although Variety pointed out that some of the twangy flourishes become repetitive by the third act.
The Wrong Girls is a debut feature with real affection behind it, a genuine celebration of female friendship and creative chaos that clearly means a great deal to everyone involved. But affection is not the same as execution, and critics broadly agree that the film is better in its DNA than in its delivery. As Awards Radar put it, Dylan Meyer had something here; she just was not fully able to harness what works.
For audiences who show up primarily for Kristen Stewart doing comedy—and there are many—the film will likely satisfy. For everyone else, The Wrong Girls is a film that promises a great stoner comedy and delivers only a decent one.
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Film Details: The Wrong Girls
Director: Dylan Meyer
Writers: Dylan Meyer, Kristen Stewart
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat, LaKeith Stanfield, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Zack Fox, Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Geena Davis, Taj Cross
Cinematography: Todd Banhazl
Music: Ty Segall
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Distributor: Neon
Release Date: August 14, 2026