Rough Night Hits Theaters Today!

Rough Night, the new for women, by women R-rated chick flick, hits the silver screen today, June 16. OUT FRONT took a sneak peek at the film to scope out queer inclusion, feminist themes, and all-around awesomeness factors.

Co-written and directed by Lucia Aniello, one of the writers from Broad City, the film follows the typical format of focusing on a group of women having a bachelorette party, but with a lot of unexpected twists. Scarlett Johansson plays Jess, a woman about to be married and running for public office. When she gets back in touch with her college friends for a bachelorette party in Miami, all hell breaks lose.

This may sound like the setup for a super-typical chick flick, and in some ways it is. But it’s the character development and realistic story lines that set this film apart. Ilana Glazer of Broad City fame plays Frankie, a queer character and die-hard activist with a former love interest, bisexual character Blair (Zoë Kravitz), within their friend group. Jillian Bell, best known for her role in Workaholics, plays Alice, Jess’ best friend. Her usual antics and bold personality make the film hilarious, but Aniello doesn’t rely on cheap humor that makes Alice the butt of all the jokes.

“I don’t know if Hollywood is ready, but they are going to have to deal with it,” said Aniello during the after-film Q&A when a fan asked if Hollywood can handle realistic portrayals of fluid sexuality and real, relate-able characters on the big screen.

If you love a good old fashioned guilty pleasure, but feel a little too guilty when you indulge in a chick flick that fat and slut shames and promotes heteronormative views, this film is for you. You’ll be in stitches laughing, but as a feminist and queer activist, you won’t have to grimace through the cringy hetero-humor.