Lesbian Space Princess Reviews
Lesbian Space Princess was one of the best-reviewed animated films of 2025 — and then, in August 2026, one of the most review-bombed. This page collects the critical consensus, the individual reviews worth reading, and what happened to the audience scores.
Score Summary
Beyond the aggregator scores, the film picked up festival honours across three continents — including the Teddy Award at the Berlinale, audience awards at Adelaide and Sydney, and official selections and awards at Busan, Reeling Chicago and Annecy.
| Source | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes (critics) | 98% · 53 reviews | "Combining a proudly queer coming-of-age story with a wild sense of humor, Lesbian Space Princess is a raucous animated adventure with a big heart to go along with its rebellious spirit." |
| The Guardian | 4/5 | Cassie Tongue: script is "sly and witty", the film's real power is "a world where both light touches and deep feelings can coexist". |
| IndieWire | B− | David Opie: "tongue-in-cheek adventure" with charming animation and a strong focus on self-love, though "clunky at times" with some jokes that fall flat. |
| Empire | Positive | "Aussie adult animated comedy isn't perfect, but it is good queer fun." |
| Little White Lies | Positive | "Sapphic sci-fi romp." |
| Movie Marker | ★★★ | Solid three-star review. |
What Critics Said
The Praise
The Guardian's Cassie Tongue gave the film 4/5 stars, praising a script that is "sly and witty" and arguing that the film's real power "is that it's a world where both light touches and deep feelings can coexist".
Steve Erickson of Gay City News called the film "delightful", praising a hero who triumphs "over heartbreak and sexism", and described it as a "splendid comedy" influenced by Revolutionary Girl Utena and Neon Genesis Evangelion — "casually multicultural and sex-positive" while focusing on the importance of self-love.
Lyvie Scott of Inverse called it a "surprisingly sweet, bracingly funny, and unapologetically queer remix" of a space adventure, praising the focus on mental health — while noting it may have arrived "behind the curve" of the edgy-adult-animation wave.
David Opie of IndieWire described the film as a "tongue-in-cheek adventure" full of gags and visual jokes, praising the animation as "charming", the self-love theme, and Saira's anxiety as a genuine strength. He cited influences including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sailor Moon, Adventure Time, The Midnight Gospel and Rick and Morty.
Juan Barquin of MovieWeb praised the film's "charm" and humour, noting influences from Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Steven Universe, Rick and Morty and BoJack Horseman, and described it as a film designed for viewers "who once thrived on Tumblr and/or AO3" — calling it a "terminally online" film in the best way.
Other outlets were similarly warm: The Prague Reporter praised its "lot of heart", Empire called it "good queer fun", and FandomWire went as far as calling it the best film of 2025.
The Criticisms
Even the film's admirers flagged weaknesses, and a minority of reviews were mixed:
- Jokes that fall flat: IndieWire's David Opie noted the film is "clunky at times, with some jokes which fall flat".
- Familiar storytelling: Several reviews noted the plot leans on well-worn quest structures, with Cartoon Brew later summarising that some positive reviews "questioned its easier jokes, familiar storytelling, and occasionally clumsy handling of gender".
- "Behind the curve": Inverse's Lyvie Scott suggested the film's style echoes 2010s Cartoon Network shows like Adventure Time and Rick and Morty, arriving "too late to ride the wave of edgy adult animation".
- Columbia Daily Spectator was more reserved, writing that the film is "straight to the point, but not out of this world".
Influences Critics Noticed
Reviewers repeatedly compared the film to a specific set of touchstones — useful if you're deciding whether it's for you:
The recurring takeaway: it's an anime-influenced, Tumblr-era sensibility filtered through Australian comedy — which is exactly what its fans love and part of what its critics find dated.
Audience Reception & the Review-Bombing
Before August 2026, audience reception broadly matched the critics' warmth, particularly in Australia where the film's festival run and theatrical release built a loyal fanbase. That changed with the August 2026 Netflix expansion and the subsequent online backlash.
During the backlash, the film was targeted by coordinated negative ratings. Cartoon Brew's editor-in-chief Jamie Lang described the film as "being review-bombed by users who, in many cases, give little indication that they have actually watched it and load their criticisms with hate speech". Audience scores on aggregator platforms fluctuated during the campaign, and the topic of whether those scores reflect the film — or the campaign against it — is itself part of the controversy timeline.
Review FAQs
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is Lesbian Space Princess good? | Critics overwhelmingly say yes — 98% on Rotten Tomatoes from 53 reviews, with a Teddy Award and audience awards to back it up. Online audience opinion is far more divided, driven largely by the August 2026 backlash. |
| What is the Rotten Tomatoes score? | 98% from 53 critic reviews. The RT consensus praises it as "a raucous animated adventure with a big heart". |
| Is the low audience score real? | Audience scores fluctuated during the August 2026 review-bombing campaign, in which users who often hadn't watched the film coordinated negative ratings. Treat pre- and post-campaign audience scores with caution. |
| Who should watch it? | Fans of queer animation, anime-influenced adult comedy, and films about self-love — with the caveat that its humour is "extremely online" and intentionally provocative. |