# I Wish You All the Best
**I Wish You All the Best** is a 2025 American coming-of-age drama film directed by [Tommy Dorfman](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-dorfman), adapted from Mason Deaver's 2019 novel of the same name. It follows Ben DeBacker, a nonbinary teenager in North Carolina who is thrown out of the family home after coming out to their ultra-religious parents and moves in with their estranged older sister and her husband.[1](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/19/tommy-dorfman-makes-directorial-debut-in-i-wish-you-all-the-best/) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Adaptation of Mason Deaver's 2019 young adult novel; Dorfman optioned the rights in 2019[3](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2022/Oct/15/alexandra-daddario-to-star-ini-wish-you-all-the-best-35673.html) |
| Director | Tommy Dorfman, in her feature directorial debut; she also wrote the screenplay and produced[1](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/19/tommy-dorfman-makes-directorial-debut-in-i-wish-you-all-the-best/) |
| Premiere | South by Southwest Film Festival, March 8, 2024[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/releaseinfo/) |
| US release | Limited theatrical release November 7, 2025; streaming November 25, 2025[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) |
| Lead cast | Corey Fogelmanis (Ben), Alexandra Daddario (Hannah), Cole Sprouse (Thomas), Lena Dunham (Ms. Lyons), Miles Gutierrez-Riley (Nathan)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/fullcredits/) |
| Runtime and rating | 93 minutes; rated R for language, sexual content, and teen drug and alcohol use[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best) |
| Reception | 86% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 29 reviews; Metascore 73 on Metacritic[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Ben DeBacker, a high school junior, comes out as nonbinary to their parents and is thrown out of the family home. Ben calls their sister Hannah ([Alexandra Daddario](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandra-daddario)), whom they have not spoken to in a decade because their parents also found her unacceptable; Hannah and her husband Thomas ([Cole Sprouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/cole-sprouse)) welcome Ben immediately and unconditionally.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best-alexandra-daddario-movie-review-2025)
After enrolling in a new school, Ben finds support from an eccentric art teacher, Ms. Lyons ([Lena Dunham](https://www.edgepedia.org/lena-dunham)), and forms a bond with a kindhearted classmate, Nathan (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), who is proudly bisexual. With these new relationships, Ben navigates young adulthood and moves from repressed to acknowledged self-expression, later presenting as B.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best-alexandra-daddario-movie-review-2025) The film's conflict comes less from external hostility than from Ben's internal struggles and from the parents' later attempts at reconciliation, which Ben meets with generosity and firm boundaries.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best-alexandra-daddario-movie-review-2025)
## Production
Tommy Dorfman, a transgender woman, optioned Mason Deaver's novel in 2019 and adapted the screenplay herself. She said she had never read a book that mirrored her own experience as a queer kid from the South so vividly, and that what inspired the film was what happens after Ben is able to open up, rather than the coming-out moment itself.[3](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2022/Oct/15/alexandra-daddario-to-star-ini-wish-you-all-the-best-35673.html) • [1](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/19/tommy-dorfman-makes-directorial-debut-in-i-wish-you-all-the-best/) The film was produced by [Matt Kaplan](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-kaplan) and Dorfman for ACE Entertainment, with Lionsgate, TeaShop Films, and Ace Entertainment as production companies and Lionsgate as distributor.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best)
[Corey Fogelmanis](https://www.edgepedia.org/corey-fogelmanis), known from [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) television, plays Ben. In interviews he described the film as a love story in which Ben learns to love themselves, and noted that nonbinary teenagers had rarely been represented in film.[10](https://www.pride.com/culture/interviews/corey-fogelmanis) The cast and crew include people who identify as nonbinary, trans, and queer; Deaver, the author of the source novel, is nonbinary.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
## Release
The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8, 2024.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/releaseinfo/) Lionsgate gave it a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 7, 2025, followed by a streaming and home entertainment release on November 25, 2025.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best) Later dates listed for other markets include Sweden on March 16, 2026 (internet) and Italy on June 18, 2026.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/releaseinfo/) In the United Kingdom the film was classified 18 by the BBFC for strong language and drug misuse for its VOD release.[11](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/i-wish-you-all-the-best-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdm0mdy2) As of late 2026 it streams in the US on Starz and its channel partners, with rental and purchase options on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 86% Tomatometer from 29 reviews; on Metacritic it has a Metascore of 73, with all seven counted reviews positive.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best/critic-reviews/) Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gave it 3.5 of 4 stars, writing that Dorfman's compassion for every character makes it a heartwarming gem and praising Fogelmanis's performance.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best-alexandra-daddario-movie-review-2025) Dennis Harvey of Variety called it a pleasant, polished drama whose only debit is an arguably too-neat depiction of Ben's transitional circumstances.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) Reviewers repeatedly noted the film's choice to center a nonbinary protagonist rather than relegate such a character to a side role, and its emphasis on acceptance and community over trauma.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best) • [7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
## References
1. [Tommy Dorfman makes directorial debut in 'I Wish You All the Best', Washington Blade (March 19, 2024)](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/19/tommy-dorfman-makes-directorial-debut-in-i-wish-you-all-the-best/)
2. [I Wish You All the Best streaming: watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
3. [Alexandra Daddario to star in I Wish You All The Best, Cinema Express (October 15, 2022)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2022/Oct/15/alexandra-daddario-to-star-ini-wish-you-all-the-best-35673.html)
4. [I Wish You All the Best (2024) - Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/releaseinfo/)
5. [I Wish You All the Best, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_wish_you_all_the_best)
6. [I Wish You All the Best (2024) - Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22525442/fullcredits/)
7. [I Wish You All the Best - Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best)
8. [I Wish You All the Best critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-wish-you-all-the-best/critic-reviews/)
9. [I Wish You All the Best movie review, RogerEbert.com (November 7, 2025)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-wish-you-all-the-best-alexandra-daddario-movie-review-2025)
10. [Corey Fogelmanis leaves Disney days behind in powerful new film, PRIDE](https://www.pride.com/culture/interviews/corey-fogelmanis)
11. [I Wish You All the Best, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/i-wish-you-all-the-best-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdm0mdy2)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2023 and 2024 › Titles H to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license