Lesbian Space Princess
Lesbian Space Princess features a fizzy animation style and excellent voice performances, but it's let down by dated politics and obvious gags
Set in a universe doused in a late noughties, Tumblr-esque aesthetic, Australian animation Lesbian Space Princess is a quirky feast for the eyes, ears and heart, but it's slightly dated. This sci-fi odyssey is set in a distant future where space has a gay-safe space and an extremely dangerous ‘straight’ zone, and sees Saira, the socially awkward princess of the exclusively lesbian planet Clitopolis, embark on a journey to rescue her ex-girlfriend Kiki and win back her love. Saira inadvertently stumbles upon a journey of self-discovery instead, and the rest is fairly unremarkable.
The spectacularly fizzy animation style is let down by poor writing steeped in a feminist politics that feels more 2014 than 2026. Stuffed with genitalia gags that read as gender-essentialist and transmisogynist, lesbian zingers that have been tweeted to death, and unimaginative straight-male villains that ‘turn’ gay when they can’t get ‘hot chicks’, these overshadow the genuinely earnest core of the storytelling. This joke-heavy narrative might have worked better in an episodic format, but it falls flat when situated within the predictable three-act structure of an adventure film.
Fantastic voice performances suture the gaps left by the script, though, spearheaded by the incredible chemistry between Saira (Shabana Azeez, The Pitt), Willow (Gemma Chua Tran), a nonbinary goth-folk musician, and their trusted steed, a mansplaining spaceship (Richard Roxburgh) with a heartwarming redemption arc. Their camaraderie and sincerity nudge Saira towards tackling her disorganised attachment issues and finding security within herself and her relationships – which is what lesbians really want, after all.
Released 19 Jun by Peccadillo Pictures; certificate 15