WISH YOU WERE HER

World-renowned actor Allegra Brooks escapes her celebrity life for the summer and grapples with fame and love as an autistic person.

Eighteen-year-old Allegra is ready for a break from the Hollywood grind of being on set and going on press tours. She heads for the respite of quiet Lake Pristine, the small-town setting of 2024’s Some Like It Cold. She’s planning to spend time with her father, who owns a bookshop there and runs a popular annual book festival. This interlude provides Allegra with an experience unlike any she’s previously had: She gets to focus on making friends, working a normal job, and navigating the complexities of authentic relationships. She does all of this while trying to escape constant public scrutiny and find her way as an autistic person in a neurotypical world. When she meets Jonah Thorne, who’s also autistic, they form a deep and meaningful connection, although it’s fraught thanks to disagreements, romantic tension, and external forces working against them. Allegra is a beautiful, talented, mid-size, neurodivergent woman whose autism is described with nuance and honesty. Despite its richly drawn characters, the plot is unevenly paced, bogged down by a subplot involving a mysterious email correspondence that feels like an unnecessary complication. Characters largely present white.

Complex, compelling characters populate a satisfying romance with some plotting issues.