Loveless

Georgia has always loved the idea of love. Her parents have been in love for decades, so she’s been raised to value romantic love. Everyone she knows has kissed someone, even if it was in a silly situation. However, Georgia has never done so or even had a crush on a celebrity. She believes what other people say, that her time for love will come.

Georgia has been close with Pip and Jason for years. She’s thought about dating either of them but has never had romantic feelings for them. Georgia, Pip, and Jason bond over their love of theater and the film Moulin Rouge. Pip again encourages Georgia to kiss Tommy, but Jason seems sad at the idea.

Georgia, Pip, and Jason are all going to Durham University. Georgia is relieved that she won’t go to school with anybody else from their high school. The trio joins a game of “Truth or Dare” at the party, in which Georgia admits to never having been kissed. Some look at her with pity or laugh. She walks away from the game in tears. Pip assures her that she’ll find someone eventually, and Georgia is determined to kiss Tommy.

Georgia runs into Tommy at the party. He apologizes for others’ rude behavior during “Truth or Dare” and invites her to sit by the fire with him. Even though she is her friends’ designated driver, she texts them that she’s hanging out with Tommy.

Pip and Jason spy on Georgia and Tommy seated alone by the fire pit. Tommy reassures Georgia and leans in to kiss her, but she suddenly hates the idea of kissing and his presence. She shoves him away, and he falls into the fire pit.

Boys had shown interest in Georgia before, but she’s never reciprocated. She thought she liked Tommy, but now feels disgust. Pip and Jason help Tommy put out the fire on his arm. A crowd gathers around, and Georgia tells Tommy that she isn’t interested in him romantically. Pip and Jason decide it’s time to leave.

Georgia drives Pip and Jason home. Pip and Jason don’t know what to say when she tries to explain away her crush on Tommy. Pip finds it’s odd that she’s never had a real crush, and Georgia resolves to reinvent herself at university by kissing and having sex.

Georgia’s parents drive her to Durham University, which is six hours away. Her mother mentions the possibility of her meeting a special boy at university. Georgia hopes for this, afraid if she doesn’t find a partner in university, she never will.

Georgia meets her roommate Rooney, an outgoing girl who connects with her love of theater. Rooney encourages her to try out for the Durham Student Theatre with her.

Pip and Jason formally meet Rooney. Pip already met Rooney by chance while Rooney was ferrying her fern, Roderick. She checks out Rooney, and Georgia can tell her friend has a crush. Jason assures Georgia that even though they will see each other less than in high school, they’ll all still be friends.

The few times that Georgia goes to parties or social gatherings with Rooney, she admires how well she flirts with boys. She wishes she could be as sociable. She also wonders if she’s gay. Later, Georgia, Pip, and Jason catch Rooney hooking up with a boy in the communal kitchen. Georgia decides to learn how to flirt and enjoy kissing from Rooney.

Georgia wakes to the sound of her upstairs neighbor having sex. She is shocked and disgusted when she realizes these noises are ones she is expected to make during sex.

At Durham University, there is a tradition in which older and new students meet up. These groups are called college families, and most students end up proposing a college marriage to a friend to team up and mentor others. A nonbinary student named Sunil is Georgia and Rooney’s college parent. The idea of having a new friend makes Georgia nervous. Sunil invites her and Rooney to a club, this being Georgia’s first time visiting one. She is determined to have a “normal” college experience, even if things like college marriages and clubs make her nervous.

While Rooney helps Georgia get ready for their night out at the club, she assures her that clubs aren’t everybody’s scene. She has Georgia add her to a “Find My Friends” app, so they can always find each other and feel safe. At the club, Georgia tries to have fun but can’t: The club is dirty, the music is loud, and people are too close to one another. Georgia tells Rooney about never being kissed, and Rooney promises to help her. She instructs Georgia to pick out boys she thinks are attractive. However, though Georgia can recognize people as attractive, she doesn’t find any of them attractive.

When Georgia tells Rooney that she couldn’t find anyone attractive, Rooney is taken aback but supportive of her “high standards.” She encourages Georgia to join the dating app Tinder. Georgia rejects 40 people on Tinder, as she can’t find anyone she feels attracted to.

Georgia and Rooney go to the student activities fair. Georgia wants to sign up for the Durham Student Theatre. She also finds a poster for the Pride Society and considers joining when Sunil encourages her. However, she worries she won’t belong to a Pride Society if she can’t identify whom she likes.

Georgia runs into Pip and Jason at the student activities fair. Rooney is disappointed to discover that the Shakespeare Society disbanded. She flirts with Pip, but Pip acts coldly. Georgia knows Pip is being defensive over her feelings for Rooney after having caught her hooking up with a boy.

Pip becomes increasingly critical of Georgia’s friendship with Rooney. She decides she doesn’t like Rooney as she’s subjecting Georgia to “peer pressure.” When Georgia defends Rooney, Pip declares Rooney is having a bad influence on their friendship. However, Jason is happy that Georgia made a new friend.

Georgia, Pip, and Jason join Rooney at a bar. Pip and Rooney have a flirtatious, competitive exchange. Georgia and Jason exchange notes about how Pip is projecting resentment onto the object of her affection. They are grateful that there hasn’t been any drama between them.

Georgia deals with her stress by partying with her friends, though she doesn’t enjoy drinking. Pip drunkenly confides in Georgia that she’s worried she will never be in a real relationship, that people find her annoying. Rooney tries to set Georgia up with a boy named Miles, but she gets nervous, and eventually Miles walks away. Jason stands up for Georgia and notes she’s not comfortable being set up with Miles. While Pip and Rooney dance together, Georgia and Jason chat. Jason asks if she’s homesick, and she says university life is sometimes stressful but better than high school. Rooney drunkenly accuses Jason of having feelings for Georgia, calling him boring yet interesting. He walks away, annoyed. Rooney insists to Georgia that Jason likes her. Georgia wonders if Jason is the person she’s meant to be with, as per romantic comedies. She asks Rooney what to do, and Rooney suggests Jason be her first kiss.

Georgia is awoken at five in the morning to Rooney sneaking back into the dorm after a night with a boy. She asks Rooney if she thinks her immature. She doesn’t feel immature, but other people think she is because she hasn’t kissed anyone. However, Rooney finds it impressive that Georgia hasn’t been peer pressured to do something she didn’t want to do. She asks Georgia if she’s never considered Jason romantically.

Georgia and Rooney attend the first meeting of the Durham Student Theatre. Pip is present, but she and Rooney ignore each other. Jason arrives, and he and Georgia chat. She asks if he wants to hang out. Jason, surprised, asks Georgia if she’s asking him out on a date and agrees to it. Georgia thinks there could be more to their friendship.

After the meeting, Rooney negotiates with the Durham Student Theatre president, Sadie, hoping to fund a Shakespeare play. Sadie explains that a society can get funding if they have at least five members. Rooney volunteers herself, Georgia, Pip, and Jason as members. Pip gets in an argument with Rooney over volunteering her, as she wants to perform in the freshman play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Rooney says Shakespeare is important to her and wears Pip down, but Pip insists she doesn’t like her.

Jason texts Georgia about their date. Georgia tells Rooney about the date, and Rooney is excited for her. Rooney helps Georgia respond to Jason, and Georgia feels embarrassed.

Georgia is pleasantly surprised that she and Rooney have developed a rhythm as roommates and friends. However, she wonders if Rooney is close with her out of convenience. Georgia and Jason make plans to go out for ice cream. Over ice cream, they talk comfortably because they’re friends who always share their feelings and experiences. They don’t know how to make this outing more of a date. Jason tells Georgia that her request for a date surprised him because he didn’t think she had feelings for him. Georgia admits she’s been thinking about how single she is. Because she loves Jason as a friend, she doesn’t see why they shouldn’t explore something more. He is concerned because his past relationships haven’t been good. Georgia and Jason agree to try dating and remain friends if it doesn’t work out. Jason wonders what they should tell Pip.

After Georgia and Jason’s date, Rooney asks for details, if Georgia felt a spark. She doesn’t understand the question. Rooney clarifies that her sex with boys is mostly casual because she enjoys sex, and that what Georgia is exploring with Jason is more serious. One of Rooney’s sexual partners makes a dramatic proposal, asking her to become his college wife.

Rooney invites Georgia, Pip, and Jason to a café to give a presentation about the Shakespeare Society. Her idea is to perform scenes from several Shakespearean plays rather than one play. Everyone loves the idea. When Rooney proposes she be the director, Pip insists she co-direct. Still, they need to find a fifth member.

Georgia, Rooney, Pip, and Jason meet for their first rehearsal. Pip and Rooney have a difficult time co-directing because they’re constantly bickering and trying to one-up the other. Georgia and Jason are cast as Juliet and Romeo for a kissing scene from Romeo and Juliet. Georgia is nervous about kissing Jason, but Pip and Rooney don’t expect them to kiss in the first rehearsal. During a break, Jason checks on Georgia, and Pip watches with suspicion. When Rooney asks if the three had luck finding a fifth member, they point out that she is the social butterfly of the group. She admits she doesn’t have many friends, which surprises Georgia.

Pip texts Georgia complaining about Rooney. Georgia responds that Pip clearly has a crush on Rooney. Pip insists Rooney is straight, and even if they did date, they’d fight all the time. She then asks Georgia if she went on a date with Jason. Georgia confirms that she and Jason are trying out dating. Georgia texts Jason to let him know that Pip now knows about them. He asks what her reaction was: Pip responded with “Hm, okay,” which he assumes is an angry text.

Georgia texts Rooney, who is out at a bar. She asks Rooney if she’ll be home soon so they can talk about Jason. Rooney says the bar scene that night is boring, and she’ll come home to hang out with her.

Rooney helps Georgia send a text to Jason, inviting him on a second date. She doesn’t have additional advice for Georgia, as she doesn’t go on many dates. Georgia takes an online test called the Kinsey Scale to figure out if she might be gay. Her result surprises her because it claims she has no sexual preference.

Georgia and Jason go to the movies for their second date but the fire alarm goes off, so they go to Jason’s dorm to watch a movie. Georgia wonders if being alone with Jason means she’ll have to kiss him. As for the room’s decor, he hung up a picture of Freddie Prinze Junior and Sarah Michelle Gellar from the live-action Scooby-Doo movie. Jason loves the Scooby-Doo movies, and the picture was a gift from a friend. Before attending Georgia and Pip’s high school, Jason went to an all-boys school. Because he had never been kissed and liked theater, the other boys made fun of him. The picture was meant to be a reminder of what a relationship with a woman could be like one day. Jason recalls his ex-girlfriend Aimee, whom Georgia didn’t like. He felt pressured to date and kiss girls, but now, he is more confident and won’t settle for less than what he truly wants. He puts a movie on, and Georgia gets nervous. She pretends to be sick and leaves.

Georgia runs into Sunil. She cries but doesn’t want to explain her tears. She hasn’t attended any of Sunil’s Pride events, but asks if she can help him set up for a Pride event happening that day.

Georgia helps Sunil and his friend Jess set up for a banquet-style Pride event. All the attendees are dressed up, and Georgia feels out of place. Sunil has her sit next to them during the dinner. She is happy to be around so many queer people, impressed by how everyone seems unapologetically themselves. Sunil tells Georgia that he likes being the president of the Pride Society because he knows what it’s like to feel alone and wants to give back to their community. Pip arrives at the event.

Pip is confused why Georgia is at a Pride event. Sunil tells her that he asked Georgia for help with the event, and in return, they’ll be the fifth member of the Shakespeare Society. Georgia is happy that Pip finds solace in the Pride Society, as their high school lacked something similar, making it difficult for Pip to come to terms with and tell people about her sexuality. Pip tells Georgia about joining the LatAm Society as well, and how fulfilled she is finding other Latino people to share her culture with. When Georgia says she would choose to be gay if she could, Pip says the first step is acknowledging one’s sexuality—but Georgia is still uncertain about hers. Pip admits she has a hard time believing Georgia is interested in Jason. She warns against hurting Jason because he’s still sensitive after his disastrous relationship with Aimee. Georgia is at a loss as to how to explain her identity crisis.

Georgia overhears an argument between Sunil and the former president of the Pride Society, Lloyd. He disagrees with Sunil’s decision to include people who identify as asexual and bigender into the Pride Society. He sees these identities as performative. Georgia approaches Sunil after the fight. She sees that he’s wearing a pin of a flag that is black, gray, white, and purple. She asks if it’s the flag for asexuality. Sunil explains he is asexual, which means he doesn’t feel sexually attracted to either men or women. He further explains that asexuality is a spectrum: Some asexual people enjoy sex, some want romantic relationships without sex, and others don’t want sexual or romantic relationships at all. He is asexual and gay because while he doesn’t experience sexual attraction, he is open to relationships with men. Georgia wants to learn more about asexuality, but feels she can’t be asexual or aromantic because she wants to fall in love.