Support the Girls
# Support the Girls

Support the Girls is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It stars Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Jana Kramer, John Elvis, Lea DeLaria, and Victor Isaac Perez.

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2018, and was theatrically released on August 24, 2018, by Magnolia Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with Hall's performance earning particular praise. Hall earned nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards and Gotham Independent Film Awards and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the first African-American to win the award.

## Plot

Lisa is the general manager of the sports bar and breastaurant Double Whammies. She takes her job seriously, protecting her employees from inappropriate or rude interactions with customers. Despite her commitment to the restaurant, her incompetent boss, Ben Cubby, has repeatedly threatened to fire her. His ire is provoked when Lisa has her employees host an off-the-books car wash to raise money for an employee, Shaina, who has hit her abusive boyfriend with her car and is staying at Lisa's house.

Despite Lisa's optimism, the day proves challenging: she has potential new employees to try out; an attempted robbery results in a man becoming stuck in a ventilation duct; one of her most trusted employees, Maci, turns out to be secretly dating a much older patron; another, Danyelle, is a single mother struggling with child care for her son; another gets a large tattoo of Steph Curry on her midsection despite tattoos being forbidden on employees; the bar is trying to get its cable fixed in time for a big fight that night; business is threatened by ManCave, another breastaurant developing in the area; and Lisa is separating from her depressed husband, Cameron. After Cubby scares Lisa during an episode of road rage, she calls Cameron for a ride.

Cubby fires Lisa and she forces herself to leave. When she returns home she learns from Shaina that Cameron has moved out. Shaina reveals that she is back together with her boyfriend and will use the fundraising money to pay his hospital bills. Furious, Lisa forces her to return the money. That night during the big fight, Maci and Danyelle, frustrated by the loss of Lisa, sabotage the cable in protest, leading to an awkward and tense scene with the customers and an off duty police officer. Danyelle and Maci are fired soon after.

The next day, Lisa, Maci, and Danyelle interview with ManCave. The interviewer tells Lisa that ManCave waitresses are unintelligent and easily replaced. Lisa, Maci and Danyelle sit on the rooftop drinking liquor stolen from Double Whammies and contemplate their future employment before letting out cathartic screams.

## Cast

* Regina Hall as Lisa Conroy
* Haley Lu Richardson as Maci
* James LeGros as Ben Cubby
* Shayna McHayle as Danyelle
* Dylan Gelula as Jennelle
* AJ Michalka as Krista
* Brooklyn Decker as Kara O'Shanahan
* Jana Kramer as Shaina
* John Elvis as Jay
* Lea DeLaria as Bobo
* Zoe Graham as Taylor
* Ann McCaskey as Reagan
* Elizabeth Trieu as Yejin
* Krista Hayes as Donnette
* Jermichael Gray as McKray
* Victor Isaac Perez as Isaac
* Sam Stinson as Chris
* Jonny Mars as Mark
* Steve Zapata as Arturo
* Bill Wise as Grady
* Lawrence Varnado as Cameron Conroy
* Kat Rogers as Jacqui

## Production

In May 2017, it was announced Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Regina Hall, AJ Michalka, Dylan Gelula, Junglepussy, Lea DeLaria, Jana Kramer, and Brooklyn Decker had joined the cast of the film, with Andrew Bujalski directing from a screenplay he wrote. Sam Slater and Houston King served as producers on the film, under their Burn Later Productions and Houston King Productions banners, respectively.

### Filming

Principal photography began in May 2017 in Texas.

## Release

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2018. Shortly after, Magnolia Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film was theatrically released on August 24, 2018.

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 156 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Support the Girls handles serious themes—and a talented ensemble cast—with wit and humor, all while proving Regina Hall's talents have been woefully underutilized." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

David Fear wrote in Rolling Stone, "You could not ask for a better image of our country right now. You could not ask for a better American film to showcase it." Former President Barack Obama named the film one of his favorites of 2018.

### Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| African-American Film Critics Association | December 11, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Won |
| Americana Film Fest | March 5–10, 2019 | Tops | Andrew Bujalski | Nominated |
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 7, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 7, 2019 | Austin Film Award | Andrew Bujalski | Won |
| Black Reel Awards | February 7, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Runner-up |
| Boston Online Film Critics Association | December 12, 2018 | Best Ensemble | The cast of Support the Girls | Won |
| Boston Online Film Critics Association | December 12, 2018 | Ten Best Films of the Year | Support the Girls | 7th Place |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | December 8, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Chlotrudis Awards | March 17, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Won |
| Chlotrudis Awards | March 17, 2019 | Buried Treasure | Support the Girls | Won |
| Florida Film Critics Circle | December 21, 2018 | Best Cast | The cast of Support The Girls | Runner-up |
| Gijón International Film Festival | November 19–26, 2018 | Best Film | Support the Girls | Nominated |
| Gotham Awards | November 26, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Gotham Awards | November 26, 2018 | Best Screenplay | Andrew Bujalski | Nominated |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 3, 2019 | Visionary Award | Andrew Bujalski | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards | February 23, 2019 | Best Female Lead | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| International Online Cinema Awards | February 23, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Motovun Film Festival | July 23–27, 2019 | Best Film | Andrew Bujalski | Nominated |
| National Society of Film Critics | January 5, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Runner-up |
| New York Film Critics Circle | November 29, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Won |
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 2, 2019 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| San Francisco Film Critics Circle | December 9, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Sarasota Film Festival | April 13–22, 2018 | Narrative Feature | Andrew Bujalski | Nominated |
| Seattle Film Critics Society | December 17, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| SXSW Film Festival | March 9–18, 2018 | Narrative Spotlight | Andrew Bujalski | Nominated |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | December 9, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Nominated |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle | December 17, 2018 | Best Actress | Regina Hall | Won |
