Drop Dead Handsome

Parker Ryland is an outspoken queer high school senior in Greensboro who feels trapped by his town, its conservative politics and the reputation he gained after a protest the previous year ended with him injured and taken to hospital. Since then, many classmates have treated Parker as attention-seeking and unstable. Hoping to escape Greensboro for college, he needs a strong admissions essay about a personal challenge, but he cannot find a subject that feels meaningful enough. Parker discovers that his school’s traditional Miss Spirit beauty pageant never explicitly states that contestants must be girls. He decides to enter, believing that challenging the pageant’s gender expectations will provide the perfect story for his essay. He also wants to prove wrong his ex-girlfriend, Laura Leigh, whose family has a long pageant history and who constantly tells Parker that he is too dramatic, selfish and unsuitable for the competition. Although Parker presents himself as fearless, joining the pageant is much harder than he expected. He changes his clothes and appearance to seem more conventionally handsome, even damaging his hair while bleaching it. He…