Edie Arnold is a Loser review: Imagine Juno with punk rock and Catholic guilt

Film festivals are rich terrain for brilliant cinematic discoveries, and among the finest and funkiest finds of SXSW 2026 is Edie Arnold is a Loser. The feature directorial debut of Megan Rico and Kade Atwood, this coming-of-age comedy is as hilarious as it is chaotic and devilishly iconoclastic. 

Like Juno, this fresh and funny film centers on a high school weirdo who treads an unconventional path to finding her bliss. Now, Edie Arnold (Adi Madden Cabrera) is not getting preggo out of wedlock. Sure, the scowling nuns at her all-girls Catholic school consider Edie an underachieving delinquent, but she doesn't drink, and celibacy is practically the only extracurricular activity she's succeeding at — though not by choice. Like her classmates, she lusts after the only boy in their orbit, altar boy Walter Boyd (Lucas Van Orden), described by Edie's friends as "like Jesus's hotter younger brother, who was too hot to die." But to him, she's invisible… until she haphazardly starts a punk band called The Nundead. 

So begins a wild ride of self-discovery, friendship, fumbled flirtations, and punk rock. 

Edie Arnold is a Loser cleverly explores identity through crushes. 

Out the gate, co-director/screenwriter Megan Rico puts a strong stamp on her coming-of-age comedy, just as Diablo Cody did with Juno. It's not that Edie and her peers speak with the verbal panache and enticingly quirky slang of Juno and her peers. It's that Edie and her best friend Frances (a brilliantly broad McKenna Tuckett) are hilariously irreverent in their mercurial rebellions. When a young new nun named Sister Sheena (Luseane Pasa) tries to get the cacophony of a girls' choir into shape, Frances and Edie take the opportunity to goof off with violent miming. They imagine they're popping out their eyeballs or being tased, implying that's less torturous than playing the organ and percussion for this ungodly choir. Rico and Atwood add a little spice to this scene by papering over scribbled graphics that illustrate blood, drool, darts, and electric jolts, emphasizing the spunk of these irrepressible girls. 

The nuns who run the school demand that these girls be poised, polite, and obedient. Edie's earnest mom (Cherish Rodriguez), who is always desperate to impress, badgers her endlessly to be more feminine and gentle. Then there's the vicious queen bee Kati Vidal (Alana Mei Kern), who relishes every opportunity to embarrass Edie, like when Kati ties tampons into Edie's hair without her knowledge. ("I got tamped!" Edie groans at lunch with her four loser friends, who are destined to be Nundead.) But whatever fresh hell comes her way, Frances — whose aggressive headgear matches her pugnacious energy — has got her back. Together, they sneak out to a local punk show, where Edie makes a big impression, leading the girls to form a band and bring a cute young punk named Iggy (Gabe Root) into their orbit. 

While Frances is devoted to raising hell and having fun, Edie faces the question of who she will choose to be. Two distinct paths are presented through two very different boys. One is Walter Boyd, who seems religious and respectable, but secretly swigs communion wine and has less holier-than-thou ideas about sex. The other is Iggy, who has a punk aesthetic that might spook Edie's mom, but a punk soul that reflects her own. And yet, Edie Arnold is a Loser isn't really about the boys. It's about the girls, who write wild songs with lyrics like, "Cannibalize your lord and savior. Eat me! Eat me! EAT ME!"

Edie Arnold is a Loser is a sensational buddy comedy. 

Having been a loser in a Catholic high school myself, it was easy to see myself in Edie (even if I was never cool enough to start a band or learn the drums). Cabrera perfectly grounds Edie's teen angst, petty rebellions, and the awkward yearning of such an existence. But she's at her best when she and Tuckett are being gleefully combative.

Too often overlooked in movies about sisterhood are the cutting inside jokes that you can only pull on the girls who know you better than your own blood. So whether Edie and Frances are joking or fighting, it's radiantly clear what they mean to each other. And yes, even when a furious Frances improvises a diss track about Edie, the love is clear, the loyalty unquestionable.

Cabrera shoulders this chaotic coming-of-age tale with aplomb. Her supporting cast shines with an array of fools, bitches, and bozos (save for the truly splendid Sister Sheena). But newcomer McKenna Tuckett is the standout. As Frances, she exudes a mischievously wild energy, reminiscent of Beanie Feldstein's passionate theater kid in Lady Bird or the cocky Jack Black in High Fidelity. Frances has no fucks to give about being cool; she brandishes her headgear like a bull's horns, a threat for those who don't realize she's not to be messed with. She's the wild card who pushes Edie when she needs a good push (be it on stage or standing up to her mom). And together, they have a Romy and Michelle day, in that their movie might have a subplot boys and crushes, but in the end, it's really about their bond. And how it's weird, beautiful, and divine. 

Simply put, this indie coming-of-age comedy is sensational. Edie Arnold is a Loser is unapologetically outrageous, touching, and really goddamn funny. Look for it, and embrace your inner loser. 

Edie Arnold is a Loser was reviewed at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.