Sixteen years later, Wu is back with a new movie that promises to do just that. The Half of It, which premieres on Netflix May 1 , follows bookish 17-year-old Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), who lives with her widowed dad in eastern Washington State. With no real friends save for her high school English teacher Mrs. G (Becky Ann Baker), Ellie spends her time watching classic movies and reading, and ghostwriting papers for her classmates as a side-hustle. But when football player Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) comes to her for help wooing cool girl Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire) — who happens to be Ellie’s own crush — she realizes this may be an opportunity to say the things she can barely admit to herself. There’s only one problem: The plan works, and with her friendship with Paul growing, Ellie finds herself having to choose between following her heart and being true to her friend. Can she have both?