Holy Smokes is a short film that that refuses to take itself seriously, continually conjuring up hefty laughs for its audience, yet what keeps you watching is the chemistry and performances from leads Galilea La Salvia and Alex Costello. This is one you need to catch.

After “sinful” stoner Lauren (Galilea La Salvia) becomes indebted to her pious friend Emma (Alex Costello), she begrudgingly chauffeurs her to a Christian-approved booty call, where they discover blasphemy runs in her boy toy’s family.

For anyone who keeps up with daft religious sexual activities such as “soaking”, then golly, you have a weird and wonderful treat in store here in Holy Smokes. Yet, somewhat unexpectedly, chaotic scenes like the one mentioned are not the highlight of the film; it’s the interactions between leads Galilea La Salvia and Alex Costello that make the film shine as much as it does.

With their natural and boundless chemistry together, these two opposites really have been friends for a long time. It is challenging to write two characters who are so different but are best friends and make it work. However, Isabella Ares and Gabby Fiszman do it successfully here, leaving you only impressed.

By taking a step back from reality and fully embracing the absurd, Holy Smokes makes you charm the pants right off you with this female-led buddy comedy. There is a wonderful suspension of belief to what you are seeing, that instead of questioning it. You simply roll with it and let the surreal-lite narrative lead you down its path.

That’s not to say there is some form of grounded reality here in Holy Smokes. The concept of a young woman who wants to be connected to her religion, but also to be sexual, is extremely relatable. Even if the means she takes aren’t the most realistic, you get that she would want that, and so, with a concrete basis for the story to settle upon, the ridiculousness can prosper, and boy does it prosper here.

One thing that Holy Smokes shows us is that, even despite films like Booksmart and Blockers, young female-centric comedies are still in a sad state of short supply. There is so much fun to be had here as we watch the escapades of Lauren and Emma that you will immediately want to see more of this duo in this world. Isabella Ares and Gabby Fiszman have struck gold with this one.

Holy Smokes is currently showing at the HollyShorts Film Festival 2025.

★★★★

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