Rookie

Samantha Lee has done it again. Rookie is Lee’s third sapphic film. Of the three, it is my least favourite. But by such a small matter of degrees that it really doesn’t matter. Beyond being talented and focused on sapphic stories, Lee’s consistency as a creator is something incredibly commendable. If you haven’t already checked out any of her film, please put her on your radar. Nobody out there is doing it like Samantha Lee.

Rookie begins with a very similar start as Lee’s last film, Billie and Emma. A tomboyish girl shows up to a new school and develops a crush on a fellow student. In Rookie, our lead is Ace. Ace loves basketball. But there’s no basketball at her new school. The nuns worry that basketball turns girls gay. They’ve got a volleyball team, though. And Ace is here to prove that girls aren’t gay because of basketball, they’re gay because of girls. And okay, maybe also because of sports. Ace develops a crush on the volleyball team captain, Jana. Jana is initially cold and rude towards Ace. However, at a weekend intensive volleyball camp, things change. Like I said, maybe sports do make people gay.

So far, all of Samantha Lee’s films have been these beautiful, tiny slices of wish fulfillment. All three of her films are fairly small-stakes romances with a welcome sprinkle of classic romance tropes. Rookie, for example features Ace and Jana realizing their volleyball camp accommodations features only one bed. What Lee is so masterful at is accurately fulfilling the wish in question. Romantic moments in her films are suitably romantic. They’re satisfying. Part of this is because as much as her movies are wish fulfillment, they’re not overly saccharine. The wish of a cute romance is only made stronger when there are external social forces that threaten that. And the fact that her characters do experience hardship and live in an unaccepting society makes those small moments when you get to kiss a girl at sunset all the more poignant and deserved.

In Rookie, darkness comes from the fact that the team’s medical assistant takes advantage of members of the team. This plotline shows so much of what makes Lee a successful director. This is a real issue Lee tackles. This storyline is something all too common in reality for girls, queer or otherwise. And the way she tackles this narrative plays into her strengths. Lee’s movies are always too small to be about characters enacting overarching social change. Which again, helps with the realism and her movies not being too saccharine. Yet still, she provides perfectly tuned wish fulfillment. The abuser does not go to jail. Sadly, that’s not be realistic. But at every step of the way, when Ace and Jana choose to tell people, they are believed. And action is taken. Plus, this culminates in a cathartic scene of the team members taking very direct action towards their abuser.

There’s a sense of hope to Rookie. For me, that’s more the wish fulfillment than just kissing a pretty girl. The fantasy that Lee provides is one where for the most part, people are worth giving the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the girl who is mean to you would stop if you just had a heart-to-heart conversation with her. Hell, maybe she’d kiss you. Maybe when you share that you’d been hurt by someone, you’re met with community and solidarity. Maybe you’ll be believed. And just maybe, people will even apologize. And maybe, when you win a sports tournament and kiss your girlfriend, the other members of the team will cheer for you. Lee doesn’t tell stories that lack conflict, villains or terrible people. But she does create universes where most of the time, especially when it matters most, people are decent and life has hope.

I continue to be in awe of Samatha Lee as a creator. Her work is so perfectly tuned to hit both genuinely fulfilling wishful romance and actual real struggles of queer people and women in society. She makes it look easy, too. Her ability to write teenagers is so effortless that it makes so many other teen films that struggle look embarrassing. The fact that Rookie is my least favourite of her movies is a huge testament to her talent as a director. I do ultimately think that Rookie is good rather than great. But part of that is because I’m so used to Lee’s effortless talent that I feel like I can expect more from her. Even though what she offered me in Rookie was more than enough.

Overall rating: 7.1/10

Other WLW films in similar genres