This Coming-Age Drama About a Nonbinary Teen Could Quietly Be a Game-Changer

Eight years after “13 Reasons Why” put him on the Hollywood map, Tommy Dorfman has shifted his focus behind the camera with a film that offers “a fantasy version of what community should be like” as a young queer struggles with his sexuality or gender identity.

Dorfman will make her directorial and screenwriting debut with “I Wish You All the Best,” released last week. The coming-of-age drama is based on Mason Deaver’s 2019 novel and follows Ben (played by “Girl Meets World” actor Corey Fogelmanis), a nonbinary teenager who is forced to move in with his long-estranged sister, Hannah (Alexandra Daddario), after being kicked out by his conservative parents on Christmas.

Family turmoil aside, a new beginning turns out to be just what Ben needed. With the support of their eccentric art teacher, Mrs. Lyons (Lena Dunham), and a group of new friends, they begin to excel in school. They also fall for a close friend turned potential love interest, Nathan (Miles Gutiérrez-Riley).

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Dorfman first encountered Deaver’s book at the time of its publication, after which she was overcome by a “spiritual, inexplicable desire to create this world in a visual medium,” she said.

“As queer people, we often have to contort ourselves emotionally and physically to relate to characters in media and books,” she told News. “I didn’t have to have that lens on.”

It’s easy to see why Dorfman could relate to Ben’s on-screen journey in “I Wish You All the Best.” The 33-year-old initially feared she would cut short her acting career when she publicly reintroduced herself as a transgender woman in 2021.

And just as Ben moves forward after embracing his true self, Dorfman has enjoyed a career resurgence lately.

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Dorfman began writing the script for “I Wish You All the Best” as he was beginning his transition and has come to see the film as a “wish-fulfillment prophecy.”

“I had to write Ben finding comfort in his own body before he got to mine,” she said. “I knew that if it was possible for them at 17… it could be possible for me at 29.”

When it came time to cast the role of Ben, Dorfman looked for an actor who could “challenge my understanding of something and deepen it.” He instantly knew he had found his star in Fogelmanis, who showed “a restrained vulnerability,” particularly in the final third of the film, when Ben has a second confrontation with his parents.

As for Dunham, she and Dorfman have been close friends for years. The “Girls” creator and star gave Dorfman her first on-screen role after her transition in the 2022 film “Sharp Stick,” and the two continued to collaborate behind the scenes.

Courtesy of Tommy Dorfman

“She is the hardest working person I know and a creative powerhouse,” Dorfman said. “Even though we know every intimate detail about each other that anyone could know, I wanted my teacher to be proud of me. She made it easy.”

With “I Wish You All the Best” now in theaters, Dorfman began working on his next project, a big-screen adaptation of Mariko Tamaki’s 2019 graphic novel, “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me.”

While “I Wish You All the Best” will certainly resonate with LGBTQ+ viewers, Dorfman also hopes the film serves as an example to those “who don’t understand their kids, their siblings or their coworkers” in a climate that has become increasingly hostile toward trans and gender nonconforming people.

“When a child is rejected for being the person they are, there should be a lot of mutual aid to lift that child up,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

Watch the trailer for “I Wish You All the Best” below.

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