I Wish You All the Best ⁞⁞ Movie Spotlight

The coming of age drama I Wish You All the Best was based on the novel by Mason Deaver. The story follows Ben De Backer (Corey Fogelmanis), a junior in high school struggling internally over their sexuality. Living in a small community with religious parents, Ben makes the decision to come out, revealing to the parents that Ben believes he is not straight. This sets off a harrowing chain of events as Ben is confronted by them and ultimately tossed out of the house. Feeling alone, with nowhere to turn, Ben reaches out to his estranged older sister Hannah (Alexandra Daddario). She takes Ben in, wondering if him being gay was what led to the confrontation with their parents, whom she does not have a relationship with. Despite not having seen one another in ten years, Hannah allows Ben to stay with her and her husband Thomas (Cole Sprouse), who welcomes Ben warmly. While Ben remains cryptic about the confrontation with his parents, he settles in and Thomas enrolls him at the high school where he works as a teacher, assuring Ben that the community is much more open and accepting than his old hometown. Thomas introduces Ben to Nathan (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), getting him to show Ben around the school. The friendly and charming Nathan works to break Ben out of his shell, pulling him into his close friend group, which includes Sophie (Lisa Yamada) and Mel (Lexi Underwood). Ben also begins spending more alone time with Nathan, who is curious about his past and how he ended up living with his sister's family. 

Ben embraces art at school, thanks to friendly art teacher Ms. Lyons (Lena Dunham) and begins expressing his emotions by painting Nathan. Eventually, after overhearing Hannah's confrontation with their parents, who come looking to take Ben home, Ben reveals to Hannah & Thomas that they came out to their parents as nonbinary which led to them being kicked out. Hannah & Thomas accept Ben unconditionally, and Hannah reveals her own history with their parents, telling Ben about how she was thrown out for having an abortion after becoming pregnant as a teen. The two grow closer over their revealed family traumas. Ben & Nathan also grow closer, with Ben confiding in him about being nonbinary as well. Things turn to romance between the teens but Ben continues to struggle mentally with the competing forces within their brain, making them unable to accept joy in their life. When their parents reach out again, Hannah worries that Ben is thinking of letting them back into their life. She reveals that she wants to obtain legal guardianship over Ben so that the parents can't take them away. Ben agrees to meet the parents, bringing Nathan & Sophie along as back-up. At first, they appear open and accepting of Ben, wanting them to return home, blaming Hannah for being a bad influence. But when they bring up conversion therapy as a solution to Ben's gender confusion, Ben has enough and cuts them out of his life. 

Despite this, Ben continues to spiral, causing them to lash out at Thomas, Hannah, and Nathan, whom Ben cuts contact with. Ben also begins ignoring their job at a local elderly camp, where Ben was being mentored by Chris (Brian Michael Smith). With some tough love from Hannah & Thomas, Ben returns to work, getting a stern talk from Chris, who reveals his own queerness, surprising Ben. They begin to embrace their sexuality and find peace. This leads to a reunion with Nathan and a public reveal of their art. In the end, Ben's parents relinquish custody, allowing Hannah to become Ben's legal guardian. Ben decides to change their name to just 'B' and starts to enjoy the rituals of teen life and first love. The screenplay was written by trans actress Tommy Dorfman, who also directed the film. The movie also features a small role for out queer performer Bex Taylor-Klaus, who plays Chris's partner Shayna.