A stoner comedy that took more than a decade to reach the screen arrives in US theatres on 14 August — and it carries a love story behind the camera. The Wrong Girls, written and directed by Dylan Meyer in her directorial debut, stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as codependent, marijuana-loving best friends who scrape by paycheck to paycheck and get swept into a case of mistaken identity. After ingesting an experimental drug, the two inadvertently gain telepathic abilities, pitting them against dangerous rivals (IMDb).

Meyer told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's Los Angeles premiere that she wrote the script about herself and her best friend getting stoned in their house, and that it took a long time to convince people it was worthy of being a movie (The Hollywood Reporter). The project has been in the works for over a decade — and, according to Meyer, it is what brought her and Stewart together as a couple. Meyer said she first sent the script to Stewart when they first met, adding that she always knew Stewart was the right person for the film. Neon, the distributor releasing the film, describes Stewart as Meyer's wife in its promotional materials (Neon via Instagram).

The supporting cast runs deep. Geena Davis, LaKeith Stanfield, Kate McKinnon, Kumail Nanjiani and Seth Rogen all appear. Rogen also produces through his company Point Grey Pictures. The film was shot in Los Angeles and runs 99 minutes (American Cinematheque). Neon, the independent distributor behind recent awards-season favourites, confirmed the 14 August theatrical release on its official social channels (Neon via Facebook).

The American Cinematheque screened The Wrong Girls at its Los Angeles venue on 5 August 2026, a week ahead of the wide release. The Hollywood Reporter first confirmed Shawkat's casting opposite Stewart back in February 2025, when the production was underway (The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Feb 2025).

What makes The Wrong Girls stand out is the thread connecting its origins to its release. A script Meyer wrote about getting high with a friend became the reason she met her wife, who then starred in the film — and spent years fighting to prove the material deserved a place on a screen. That is a long chain of decisions, all made by people, ending with a projector running and an audience in the dark.