How to Get Girls

“How to Get Girls” (2017) takes a familiar teen-comedy setup and filters it through a distinctly nerd-culture lens: two childhood best friends, Zach and Ben, bond over comics and the dream of making it to Comic Con. Their big promise is pure wish-fulfillment—finish their own comic and somehow place it in the hands of their ultimate hero, Marvel legend Stan Lee. Then life intervenes, and their plans get derailed in the most extreme way imaginable.

When Ben is sent away with his dad to Antarctica, the movie leans into the absurdity of distance and time. Five years later, Ben returns as the same socially clumsy fanboy—only now he’s trapped inside a body that turns heads instantly. That contrast becomes the film’s engine: the mind of a geek, the face of a heartthrob, and a best friend who can’t help seeing the transformation as a shortcut to everything they used to think was out of reach.

Director Omri Dorani plays the premise for comedy, but the bigger punchline is how quickly “confidence” becomes a performance. Zach’s attempts to use Ben’s new look as a social cheat code spiral into misunderstandings, ego bruises, and the kind of cringe-worthy trial-and-error that teen comedies are built on. The film’s humor comes from watching fantasy collide with reality—especially when attraction doesn’t automatically translate into connection.

The ensemble helps keep the pace lively, with familiar comedic faces like Chris Elliott, David Koechner, Kate Flannery, and Chris Kattan

At its core, “How to Get Girls” is less a rulebook than a send-up of rulebooks—an affectionate jab at the idea that there’s a single formula for popularity, romance, or becoming “cool.” It’s a comedy about the awkward space between who you are and who you’re trying to be, with Comic Con aspirations and coming-of-age embarrassment sharing the same frame.