Cheerful and romantic, Jason Karman’s coming-of-age feature debut offers an exceptional portrait of first (queer) love through the eyes of a Chinese Canadian teenager discovering his sexuality. Cardi Wong stars as Jake, a high schooler already juggling a number of expectations from his family, girlfriend, and peers. The arrival of a handsome new neighbor Aleks (Chris Carson), however, catches Jake off guard.

Struck by a newfound connection he struggles to explain, Jake follows Aleks onto the school basketball team, delighting his former athlete father. But in doing so, he runs headlong into a web of others’ hopes and expectations, forcing him to shoulder the scrutiny of schoolmates and family alike. Struggling to discover himself while — like so many high schoolers — trying to thrive in the public eye, Jake finds himself caught between the familiar and the new. Offering a timely, warm-hearted look at the pressures and crosscurrents shaping young queer lives, Golden Delicious gets at perspectives, too, well beyond Jake’s, bringing to life the whole community of which he’s a part.