Jimpa star Olivia Colman fears Hollywood is ‘too nervous’ to champion queer stories

Jimpa actress Olivia Colman has expressed her fear that the mainstream entertainment industry is “too nervous” to champion queer films in the current political climate.

Sophie Hyde, the filmmaker behind the queer familial drama film, also shared her concern that a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric may have made it harder for the film to get picked up for distribution.

Jimpa, which Hyde co-wrote and directed, debuted at Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, around the same time that Trump’s second inauguration occurred.

Within days, Trump had signed an executive order which professed that the US would only recognise two sexes, male and female, and that these were unchangeable. 

He also reinstated the ban he put in place during his first presidency on trans people serving in the US military, and restricted gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth. 

Jimpa follows non-binary teen Frances, played by Hyde’s own non-binary child Aud Mason-Hyde, as they head to Amsterdam to visit their gay grandfather Jim (played by Harry Potter star John Lithgow).

The Favourite actress Olivia Colman plays Frances’s mother, Hannah.

Despite its star-studded cast and a warm reception following its Sundance debut, Jimpa took a year to land into US cinemas. It was finally picked up by small independent film distribution company Kino Lorber. A UK release has yet to be confirmed.

Speaking to Variety recently, Hyde said that it had “been a challenge” to find a distributor willing to pick the film up for theatrical release.

“Do I think it’s political? Yeah,” she said.

“We watched the film industry slide away from diversity and play fairly safe in certain ways. Queer stories don’t get much airtime. Stories by and about women don’t get much airtime. We found out last year that there was a lot of pushing queer stories to the side,” Hyde continued.

In addition to the crackdown against the trans community, Trump’s presidency has heralded the decline of diversity, equity and inclusion programmes and policies for major companies including Walmart and Target. The entertainment industry, particularly the film, TV and book industries, have been affected by Trump’s onslaught against DEI.

“There’s an awful lot of mistrust and hatred about things that there is no need to be hateful about,” Colman told the publication.

“I love the fact that this film is about learning how to listen to each other without throwing the toys out the crib. I don’t understand how you can get so upset about it when someone is different.”

The Oscar-winning British actress added that it would be “wonderful” if queer stories were more “mainstream” but she fears that industry top dogs are “too nervous” to commit to such stories.

During a recent interview with queer publication Them, Colman spoke about identifying with the non-binary community. 

“Throughout my whole life, I’ve had arguments with people where I’ve always felt sort of non-binary,” she said.

“But I’ve never felt massively feminine in my being female. I’ve always described myself to my husband as a gay man. And he goes, ‘Yeah, I get that.’”

Jimpa is in select US cinemas now.

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