Meet the Cast of Support the Girls

A smaller but absolutely terrific new movie that opens today is Support the Girls, starring Regina Hall (Girls Trip), Haley Lu Richardson (Operation Finale) and, in a superb screen debut, rapper Shayna McHayle (who performs under the name Junglepussy). Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski (Results), Support the Girls takes place in a uniquely American setting: a Hooters or Twin Peaks-style “breastaurant” called Double Whammies, where young women in short shorts and tight, revealing tops serve beer, wings and other artery-clogging specialties to a (mostly male) clientele while sports blare from the big screen TV above their heads.

Funny, warm and insightful, Support the Girls centers mainly around Lisa (a fantastic Hall), the eatery’s general manager who deals with a dozen different crises a day and acts as den mother to the young and sometimes impulsive women who work for her, while also dealing with the place’s increasingly surly owner (James Le Gros), the customers themselves and her own personal struggles.

Along the way, Support the Girls subtly comments on — without hammering them into the viewers’ consciousness — issues such as sexism, workplace fairness and equality, the challenges faced by everyday service workers and whether venues like Double Whammies even have a place anymore in a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Yes, it handles all that in a fleet and humorous 90 minutes. Den of Geek spoke with Hall, Richardson and McHayle — the latter two play veteran Double Whammies employees — about making the movie, learning more about the business and what the film says about the issues it tackles.

Support the Girls is out in theaters today (Friday, Aug. 24) and begins on demand Aug. 28.