Friday, March 31st was a big day for boygenius fans as we finally received their long awaited debut album, the record. Even better, the record wasn’t boygenius’ only drop this Friday. The band released a short film/long-form music video titled the film (purposefully stylized in lowercase, just as their album and band name) directed by Twilight star and queer icon Kristen Stewart. the film features three boygenius songs, “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry,” and “True Blue” which also happen to be the first three singles the band released from this album. As we dive into the minds of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, each member gets their moment to shine throughout the video.
The video starts off with the rock-forward and Baker-led “$20.” We see the camera pan over Baker sleeping in a racecar bed (as every rockstar should.) The audience is seemingly shown what she’s dreaming about. Throughout Bakers’ segment, we get to see Baker, as well as a young Bridgers (played by Avery Tiiu Essex) and a young Dacus (played by Fiona Rose) racing, playing outside, fixing up a car, and excitingly setting the car on fire. Throughout these scenes, the video perfectly captures the feeling of youthful rebellion that the song expresses.
Bridgers’ segment is next, which features a song she takes the lead on, “Emily I’m Sorry.” Just like the song, this portion of the video appears to be more stripped down while having many moving parts in the background. We see Bridgers, wearing a white tee shirt and blue boxers, standing in the middle of a monster truck course. As the song goes on, monster trucks leap over obstacles behind Bridgers. The video ends with Bridgers, at this point joined by Dacus and Baker, setting another car on fire, with the match being lit by Baker. This is possibly a metaphor to represent Bridgers’ choice to let go of the past.
The final segment is Lucy Dacus’, and features the song “True Blue.” The vignette features Dacus longingly ruminating on the color blue. About halfway through her segment, Dacus is joined by Bridgers and Baker, who assist Dacus in painting a wall royal blue, covering themselves in paint in the process. We also see Dacus making out with both Bridgers and Baker, which is a win for queer women everywhere.
The video concludes with the trio hugging in bed, showing their comfort and closeness as both collaborators and friends.
Stewart did an incredible job capturing the band’s close bond through each of their scenes. In 2022, it was announced that she is set to make her feature film directorial debut with The Chronology Of Water, starring actress Imogen Poots. Stewart has clearly proven she has what it takes to be one of Hollywoods’ best up and coming directors with her work on the film.
The film is a great example of the amazing art that can be created when queer women artists from different mediums come together. We hope that Stewart and boygenius will continue to work together in the future!
Top image: Screen grab from “boygenius – the film” from @xboygeniusx on YouTube
