As Emma Galbraith sees it, all teen movies are about being in between. Starring as the titular “inbetween girl” in a new independent film shot in Galveston and Austin, Galbraith plays the sarcastic, aimless Angie, a half-Chinese, half-white teenage girl partly drawn from Galbraith’s own experience of growing up biracial in Texas. At 19, Galbraith is an actor as well as a youth organizer for climate and housing justice in Austin.
Inbetween Girl explores Angie’s feeling of inbetweenness in terms of race and ethnicity at her predominantly white Episcopalian high school, but also in her family: After her white mom and Chinese dad get divorced, she feels out of place in both homes. When Angie starts secretly sleeping with school heartthrob Liam — who has a girlfriend, a blonde Instagram influencer named Sheryl — the shame felt by his insistence on keeping it a secret is searing.
Strong acting, nuanced writing, lovely art direction and inventive editing make the film funny, dynamic, and effortlessly sweet, without falling into cliché. Written and directed by Mei Makino, Inbetween Girl won the Audience Award at SXSW and screened most recently at the Austin Asian American Film Festival. It is seeking distribution now. This month, Galbraith sat down with the Observer to talk about teen movies and Texas.
