Apocalypse Besties, which premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, is the epitome of the meme “Two dumb b*tches telling each other, “Exactly!” And I mean this with a great heaping amount of love for the short film directed by Kristen Buckels Cantrell and written/starring by Becky Chicoine and Same Reece. Because it was hilarious, well-timed, and was unapologetic in how friendship is the heart of what drives these two women at the end of humanity.
Like any best friends in a crippling economy, Sam (Reece) and Becky (Chicoine) spend their time binge-watching TV shows. And at the tail end of their latest binge they come to the realization that they accidentally survived the apocalypse and might be one of the last humans around. Definitely not the world. But probably their local area. And like any sane people, they take it in stride. I’m joking. They have an unhinged spiral before they zero in on their new purpose: repopulating the Earth.
MORE: Interested in more queer Tribeca Film Festival short films? Read our review for Sister!
A lot of times when it comes to repopulation themes in end-of-the-world media, it’s never on the woman’s terms. It’s always others thinking about what they can do to repopulate Earth with women just being tools. In Apocalypse Besties, Sam makes a choice that this is the skill that she has. Personally I don’t want babies, even at the end of the world. But feminism is allowing people to do what they want with their bodies. So if Becky wants to have babies, you go ahead.
This is where Sam comes in, the person that I connect to the most in Apocalypse Besties. And it isn’t just because I also like women. It’s because Sam doesn’t want children. And I wasn’t expecting these two best friends having an honest conversation about how even if it’s the end of the world, Sam has complete control of her body and that will always be a priority for Becky. There might have been a tear or two shed, not just from the actors but from the viewer, aka me, because of how tender this scene was.
MORE: Beauty is pain. But it’s also a vapid mess. Read our review for the Tribeca short film Poreless.
The ability to insight emotion when it comes to short films like Apocalypse Besties, always speaks to the level of craftsmanship short films have when it comes to understanding their core concept and what they want the viewer to walk away with. This short film was very contained, like most short films are. And they used every single second that they had on-screen with intention. And yes, they were pretty intense. They went from zero to a thousand in 2 seconds to the point where IUDs were removed. But it was an honest window into women and women’s issues oriented. Just at the end of the world and very girly pop.
Apocalypse Besties premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latine community since I am Latine.)
For Pride 2025, I’ll be posting more throughout the month.
