Even in a galactic LGBTQIA+ future utopia, being insecure, different, and carrying the weight of being the princess of a sapphic planet comes with its challenges. Such is the story of Saira (voiced in English by Shabana Azeez) in the animated feature Lesbian Space Princess (Australia, 2025), winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
What follows in Saira’s story could be described as a queer comedy about late coming-of-age, disguised as a galactic adventure with the kind of absurdities typical of an episode of Rick and Morty (USA, 2013-present), but one that laughs in the face of both toxic romantic relationships and heteronormativity in its most stale form.
What’s it about?
The heart of insecure and introverted Princess Saira (Shabana Azeez) from the planet Clitopolis is broken when her girlfriend, galactic bounty hunter Kiki (Bernie Van Tiel), breaks up with her on her birthday. Meanwhile, her mothers, the queens, are disappointed because Saira hasn’t yet been able to summon her labrys, the “most powerful weapon of lesbians,” which is born from self-confidence.
However, one day, Kiki is kidnapped by the Straight White Maliens, who demand Saira’s labrys as ransom to power their “chick magnet.” Thus, the princess embarks on a journey outside her gaylaxy to learn how to summon her labrys, rescue her ex, and win her back.
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Lesbian Space Princess has the subtlety of a sledgehammer, in the best way
It’s worth saying right now that from character design to plot and dialogue, Lesbian Space Princess doesn’t beat around the bush. It’s a film that embraces camp humor with singular joy and pride for visual gags and wordplay so obvious and absurd they would make John Waters proud (the distance from asshole-ism to Straight White Maliens is very short).
And truth be told, the plot isn’t complicated at all: we follow Saira traveling from point A to B to C in an adventure/road movie that, while beginning as an attempt to win back her ex, becomes a quest for self-affirmation more typical of coming-of-age stories.
However, it’s in this deceptive simplicity where the power of Lesbian Space Princess lies. By placing its protagonist in a lesbian utopia where “coming out of the closet” isn’t required, it’s a film that imagines what queer narratives can be where the dramatic conflict isn’t tied to the protagonist’s identity or their place within heteronormativity. Saira’s issue has to do with her fractured relationship with her mothers, social expectations even within her sapphic utopia, and her inability to form a healthy romantic relationship.
The Straight White Aliens (Straight
Paradoxically, the film does offer a satire of heteronormativity in its villains and certain other characters, like the “Problematic Ship” (voiced by Richard Roxburgh), a spaceship equipped with 21st-century artificial intelligence that spits out one misogynistic stereotype after another. And again, the idea that parodying straight white men requires snatching power from a lesbian woman (the labrys is both a feminist and lesbian symbol), is a simplistic—but very funny—mockery of heteronormative patterns.
But in the end, this ends up being a complement to the central story, which even if it opts for certain easy resolutions, sends a message as fun as it is positive: that there can be a world where a weird, insecure girl can become a heroine, regardless of her identity.
