Film

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser

Name: Sierra Burgess Is a Loser
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Released: 2018
Cast: Shannon Purser, Kristine Froseth, RJ Cyler, Noah Centineo, Loretta Devine

A Netflix teen rom-com about a smart, unpopular girl who starts secretly texting the school's most eligible guy while posing as the pretty, popular girl he actually thinks he's talking to. It's glossy, quick, and sweetly performed by Shannon Purser — but its cheerful treatment of catfishing and its jokes about looks have aged into something more uncomfortable than the film seems to notice.

TMDb rating

6.3

If you liked this

To All the Boys I've Loved Before2018

Same year, same Netflix teen-rom-com DNA, even the same Noah Centineo playing the impossibly sweet love interest — but here the fake relationship is played with warmth instead of deception.

But If Sierra's central lie bothered you, a different flavour of romantic pretending might feel like more of the same trope.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before poster

Easy A2010

Emma Stone's razor-sharp comedy about reputation, rumor, and who controls your own story is funnier and smarter, and it actually interrogates the lie instead of just resolving it with a kiss.

But The literary framing and rapid-fire dialogue feel more written and stylized than the breezier tone you might be after.

The Half of It2020

A Cyrano riff done with real tenderness — a shy girl ghostwrites love letters for a jock's crush — more interested in friendship and self-discovery than a tidy romantic payoff.

But Quieter and more melancholic than Sierra Burgess; if you want jokes and a clean rom-com ending, this isn't quite that.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Cyrano de Bergerac1950

Sierra Burgess literally restages Cyrano — the smart, overlooked person ghostwriting romance for someone conventionally desirable — this is the play the genre keeps rewriting, here played for tragedy instead of laughs.

The original version of exactly this trick — a witty but 'unworthy' person writing someone else's love letters — played straight, aching, and gorgeous, and it won José Ferrer an Oscar.

But Rhymed verse dialogue and a centuries-old French setting are a big tonal leap from Netflix teen comedy; it asks for patience.

10 Things I Hate About You1999

The gold standard of scheme-based teen romance — a bet instead of a text lie, but the same pleasure of watching people fall for each other despite starting on false pretenses.

But Very much a product of its late-90s moment; some of the gender politics and side jokes haven't aged well.

Never Been Kissed1999

Drew Barrymore goes undercover as a high schooler in classic mistaken-identity, cringe-comedy fashion, with the same DNA of a lie spiraling further than intended.

But The premise — an adult posing as a teen and falling for a teacher — is uncomfortable in ways the film never quite reckons with.

The DUFF2015no page yet

Another high-school-hierarchy comedy about a girl relabeled by everyone around her, with a scrappy, funny lead performance and a similar underdog-versus-popular-girl setup.

But Leans harder into broad stereotype and slapstick, with less genuine character work than Sierra Burgess actually has.

Love, Simon2018

A contemporaneous teen romance built entirely on secret messaging and hidden identity, but trades deception for real vulnerability and asks bigger questions along the way.

But Much gentler and more earnest — if you came for catfishing chaos, this is a softer, more sincere kind of story.

Booksmart2019

Same high-school-outsider energy, turned into a sharper, funnier one-night friendship comedy with two brilliant lead performances.

But There's no romance-through-deception plot here at all — it's a hangout movie, not a love-triangle one.

She's All That1999

The bet-turned-genuine-feelings teen rom-com that basically wrote the modern playbook this film is quietly riffing on.

But Dated gender politics and a makeover-as-redemption arc that plenty of viewers now find pretty grating.

Catfish2010

Same catfishing mechanic, minus the rom-com safety net — where the film treats it as a misunderstanding that resolves sweetly, this shows what it actually costs the person on the other end.

A real-life version of Sierra's exact lie — someone falling for a person online who isn't who their photos say — filmed as it unravels, tense and unexpectedly tender.

But This is a real person's heartbreak, not a comedy; it will make the deception in Sierra Burgess feel a lot less cute afterward.

You've Got Mail1998

Same bones — anonymous digital romance built on a partial lie — but from the adult, dial-up side of the same trick, proving the format predates group chats by decades.

The pre-smartphone answer to falling for someone through a screen while lying about who you are — Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks flirt anonymously online while their real selves are rivals.

But Dial-up chatrooms instead of texting, business rivals instead of teenagers — a much gentler, more grown-up register than the high-school chaos here.