The Stoner Comedy Still Matters - The Wrong Girls Is Here To Prove It
For a genre built around forgetting what you were doing halfway through, the stoner comedy has impressive staying power.
From Friday and Half Baked to Pineapple Express and Scary Movie, getting high while also getting into increasingly ridiculous situations has long been a reliable movie formula. Now, Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat are giving the genre a new hit with The Wrong Girls, a delightfully unhinged comedy arriving in theaters August 14.
Written and directed by Dylan Meyer in her feature debut, The Wrong Girls follows Frankie (Stewart) and Molly (Shawkat): two codependent Los Angeles-based best friends whose days revolve around smoking weed, eating food, and hanging out. Things get considerably less chill after a case of mistaken identity leaves them with a briefcase containing an experimental drug.
Naturally, they take it.
What follows involves telekinetic powers, government agents, a pharmaceutical conspiracy, mysterious squids, and cats that can suddenly communicate with their owners. Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani voice the cats, a delightful stoner throwback twist.
Underneath all the chaos is a story about female friendship and the idea that growing up doesn't necessarily have to mean growing apart.
When weed isn't just a punchline
Meyer has cited everything from The Big Lebowski and Smiley Face to Romy and Michele's High School Reunion as influences, giving the movie a decidedly female spin on a genre historically dominated by stoned dudes on couches.
Cannabis isn't just the punchline anymore, either. Frankie and Molly smoke with the kind of casualness familiar to plenty of adults in California, where getting high doesn't necessarily need to trigger a Very Special Lesson. Sometimes, a joint can just be a joint.
That might be why stoner comedies still matter in the age of legalization. Increasingly, these movies have (and give) permission to move beyond the old joke that “getting high is funny” and instead show weed as an ordinary part of adult life—and that it may or may not lead to hilarity.
The Wrong Girls is more than a stoner comedy
In another showing of cannabis normalization, this stoner comedy has made its way to dispensary shelves. California brand Pure Beauty has released The Wrong Girls Babies, a limited-edition 10-pack of mini pre-rolls inspired by the film. You can grab these cute lil joints at embarc before you head to the theater!
And because watching a stoner comedy is better with proper accessories, embarc Passport Club members can enter to win an exclusive The Wrong Girls merch pack provided by NEON.
Four winners will each receive a camp shirt, hat, ringer tee, rolling paper pack, and 420 Passport Club Points deposited into their loyalty wallet. Entry is completely free, with one entry allowed per person each day from August 12 through September 4.
So no, the stoner comedy isn't dead. It's simply leveled up from stereotypical, male-dominated tropes to cultural forces that cannot be denied. From A-list stars to actual weed collabs, the genre has transcended the subculture and become something more: a legitimate piece of the cultural zeitgeist.