Another stellar entry into the indie dramedy canon has arrived with female-led Cora Bora. Directed by Hannah Pearl Utt and written by Rhianon Jones, this queer story focuses on a bisexual lead so unlikable that she actually becomes endearing. I thought maybe the film would be something of a road trip movie, but thankfully Cora Bora instead plays out as a series of misadventures. It reminded me of another iconic entry into the LGBTQIA+ oeuvre: 2021’s outstanding Udo Kier vehicle, Swan Song. Like that film, Cora Bora follows a character making questionable decisions whose life is altered irrevocably over the course of exploring their past.
Cora (Megan Stalter) marches to the beat of her own drum. After playing many shows in Portland, Cora moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of pursuing her dreams while still maintaining a long-distance relationship with her girlfriend, Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs). The duo decided to shift to an open relationship—Cora certainly took advantage of this, as the film finds her hooking up with cute Travis (Thomas Mann) within the first fifteen minutes. Side-swept hair and “big dick” aside, Travis, whose apartment is adorned with an ex’s neon “follow your dreams” sign, ends up unstable and weeps about making a huge mistake. Cora pushes away her close friend and bandmate, dodges the concerns of her manager, and seems to be in general freefall. The only thing stabilizing her is the rocky relationship she still continues with a distant Justine.
Even Cora’s union with Justine may be called into question—Justine is throwing a graduation party that, like her graduation ceremony, Cora claims she cannot attend due to prior commitments. Sensing something may be awry, Cora drops everything and heads back home for Portland. On the flight over, she sits in the first class seat of a handsome and nerdy guy who later introduces himself as Tom (Manny Jacinto, The Good Place). Though the nasty flight attendant boots her, Tom remains warm and sweet, watching over Cora’s precious acoustic guitar. As rocky as her general flight experience may be, nothing can prepare Cora for what awaits her when she arrives home to her girlfriend. Riley (Ayden Mayeri) has moved in with Justine; to make matters worse, that graduation party is actually a dual celebration for Riley’s birthday.
Cora’s very complicated situation only gets worse by way of her overbearing attitude and her accident-prone hijinks. She loses her dog, Taco, gets high with strangers, and treats her parents without an ounce of respect. While it may seem Cora would be a difficult character to get a grip on, her struggles become all the more tragic when we finally learn of her backstory. She keeps bumping into Tom in typical rom-com fashion. At the very least, Cora Bora does an excellent job in equally spreading out potential love interests to evenly portray Cora’s bisexuality.
Megan Stalter’s naturalistic portrayal of Cora supercharges Cora Bora. Sometimes frustrating characters can reach the point of hatred or intense annoyance, and thankfully this never happens with Cora. The film itself has sharp writing and textured characters that bring a sense of vibrancy to a relatively simplistic story. People like Glee’s Heather Morris and Brooklyn 99 star Chelsea Peretti pop up in memorable minor roles. Above all else, Cora Bora preaches RuPaul’s age-old lesson: “if you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
Cora Bora screened at 2023’s Provincetown International Film Festival.
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