Dating Amber (2020)

Dating Amber is that rare coming-of-age film that feels both disarmingly funny and quietly brave, using a fake-dating premise not for cheap gags but as a tender spotlight on the kind of friendship that can save your life. Set in mid-’90s rural Ireland, it captures the ache of being watched, judged, and mislabeled, while still making room for sharp wit, teenage messiness, and the electric relief of finding a place—any place—where you can breathe. Fionn O’Shea and Lola Petticrew are terrific together, giving Eddie and Amber a lived-in bond that’s warm, prickly, and deeply human, with Sharon Horgan adding a grounding presence when it matters most. It does deal with homophobic bullying and some heavy emotional terrain, so it’s not a weightless rom-com, but if you want something charming, poignant, and ultimately affirming, this one earns your time.

Dating Amber is trying to be a warm, funny, and ultimately hopeful coming-of-age story about two teens using a fake relationship to survive small-town homophobia, and it mostly succeeds on heart and sincerity. The problem is it often hits familiar indie-dramedy beats, so if you’re allergic to predictable arcs and neat emotional payoffs, you’ll see the turns coming a mile away. Some side characters and threads feel sketched rather than explored, which can make the world seem smaller than the subject deserves. Still, the leads have real chemistry and the 1990s Irish setting gives it bite, so it’s worth your time if you want a gentle, supportive queer story more than a surprising one.