There’s nothing wrong with a safe space. There’s nothing wrong at all with wrapping yourself in the things that make you feel at peace and serene; unless, of course, the energy spent maintaining said serenity comes at the cost of refusing to grow and adapt. This is easier said than done because, more often than not, those with the ability to reach for the horizon without worry for the immediate next steps likely either come by it naturally or were given support systems to encourage extrinsic validation. Whatever the cause, this is the root element of co-directors/co-writers Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs’s Lesbian Space Princess, an animated sci-fi YA coming-of-age adventure tale as it utilizes sex comedy with a road trip veneer to investigate the lies we tell ourselves to hold ourselves back.
L-R: Princess Saira voiced by Shabana Azeez and Kiki voiced by Bernie Van Tiel in LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.
Princess Saira (voiced by Shabana Azeez) is having a shit day. Not only is it her 23rd birthday and the day before the Lesbian Space Ball, but her girlfriend, Kiki (voiced by Bernie Van Tiel), dumps her with an “it’s me and not you” reasoning. Absolutely devastated and with no support from her parents, Saira resigns herself to her loneliness until an S.O.S. arrives from Kiki: she’s been kidnapped by three Straight White Maliens who require Saira’s royal labrys. One problem: Saira hasn’t been able to successfully summon it for six years. Ok, two problems: she’s also too chicken to leave her home planet of Clitopolis. But she’ll have to solve both if she’s going to save Kiki within the 24hr timeframe the ransom provides.
Lesbian Space Princess marks the feature-length directorial debut for both Varghese and Hobbs, though both have experience on other projects, whether writing/directing shorts (Varghese’s Courting (2011), Furbulous (2022), and others) or production design/art departments (Hobbs’s White Lillies (2018) and Talk to Me (2022), among others). However, the first thing anyone will notice is the art design for the film. While the press kit lists such reference titles as Invader Zim (2001 – 2006) and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 – 1996), the vibe of the film is Adventure Time (2010 – 2018)-meets-Steven Universe (2013 – 2019)-meets-Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (although, Takes Off if perhaps more analogous than the live-action film). The brightly colored world of Lesbian Space Princess (LSP) is, FYI, underscored by many songs written by Varghese and performed by various individuals, including Varghese, cast member Gemma Chua-Tran (Back of the Net), and more, which would make Rebecca Sugar quite proud. As we hear Azeez’s voice introduce us to this fictional world, the animation conveys brightness, lightness, and joy — all of which is found to be a façade, at least for Saira, who is acutely aware of her own social shortcomings. As we enter this world, the surreal and exaggerated art combines with the dialogue to reveal that LSP isn’t some cutesy Pride Parade, but something that external validation provided by companionship, parents, or society at large can’t resolve. The whole of LSP is about the internal and the schism that exists between self-image and reality. Animation is the perfect medium for their story. The music infuses it with a breeziness to make the emotionally charged moments softer against the quite profound and prickly thematic elements.
A scene from LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.
This is where the tried-and-true tropes of any road trip comedy come into play, but also get up-ended a bit, in terms of expectation, for the better. Varghese and Hobbs don’t leave much room for sitting still in the brisk 87-minute runtime and, frankly, the film is all the better for it. The premise is established quickly, the stakes are near-immediately presented, and the foundation for adventure is laid in such a way that audiences with enough familiarity with the coming-of-age sex road trip comedy (such as 2000’s Road Trip or 2004’s Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) can get a pretty strong sense of where the film is headed. This does reduce the tension of the film as anyone who’s ever seen any title within the genre can guess where things go, yet, that doesn’t mean the film isn’t without surprises. In this case (and without divulging too much), Varghese and Hobbs utilize expectation to create circumstances for humor via gender tropes and stereotypes (the spaceship Saira steals is listed as a “Problem Ship” whose A.I. (vocal delivery provided by Moulin Rouge’s Richard Roxburgh) spews one chauvinistic smear after another, while the protagonists of the film are incels angry that they can’t pick up woman and need the labrys to power their ”chick magnet.”) Doing so enables the filmmakers to dress the narrative in an entire host of sex jokes, inuendoes, and gender-related commentary, by which no individual on the sexuality spectrum is spared a good roasting, while deflecting from true conflict at the center of LSP whose reveal uplifts the whole from general feel-good entertainment into something deeper and more intentional.
Willow voiced by Gemma Chua-Tran in LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.
Despite being able to pin-point the trajectory of the narrative at-large, there’re enough surprises and so much heart that one finds themselves absolutely charmed by Lesbian Space Princess. Even when the gender and sex jokes start to wear a tad thin, the humor having made its point several jokes passed, the performances from the voice actors and the focus on intrinsic vs. extrinsic validation elevate the experience as the whole. The songs, too, even as they often serve as a quick narrative shorthand, never dull as one brief ode gives way to another (and heads up, both the score and the songs are available to purchase). At a time when the notion that “Love is Love” is a battle cry for equality and equity rather than a simple statement regarding the wholesomeness of affection, there’s joy in knowing that a film like Lesbian Space Princess is going to be found by someone who needs to hear something affirming and, perhaps, reduce their loud negative voices in favor of communal understanding: it doesn’t matter where you lie on the spectrum, humans are messy, love is messy, and life is messy. We can’t make it perfect; it can only be what it is. That’s a message that could save a life.
Amid all the vibrant art direction, character design, and dirty jokes, Varghese and Hobbs craft a coming-of-age tale that holds a mirror up to its audience and asks them what they see and demands appreciation. Put another way, through Saira’s journey the audience starts to reconsider the stories we tell ourselves and whether or not we’ve got a reliable narrator at the helm. It’s a powerful question asked by a film with an animated dancing vulva and a cum-shooting tiny penis.
In select theaters October 31st, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment January 14th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Cineverse Lesbian Space Princess website.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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