How To Have Sex - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

Our experiences in this life are one of the many components that help shape us into who we are. Both the good and the bad, what we go through and how our minds process these external events mold our personalities as we traverse this human experience. This is just one of the themes that Molly Manning Walker feels like contemplating in the new film that she’s written and directed, How To Have Sex, which is now streaming on Mubi here in the U.S. This film tells us the story of three female friends, probably all in their late teens, as they go for a girls trip/party/vacation, drinking, clubbing and trying to hook up. While simply looking for a good time, they don’t seem to consider how some of the events and decisions made within these few days could reverberate through the rest of their lives. In addition to the the events that shape us, the topics of plutonic female friendship, virginity and one’s loss of it, as well as just plain and simple youthful exuberance are all discussed within the context of the landscape that Walker paints for us. With a mostly unknown cast, this film manages to traverse some very intriguing topics and hold viewers interest with a very trimmed down and fluid runtime of just over an hour and a half. Critics might enjoy this film a bit more than some general audiences, but most will find something to enjoy about this movie while learning How To Have Sex. 

SYNOPSIS - As the film gets underway and the production company logos slide across the screen, we hear the voiceover from a flight attendant thanking us for flying with them. It’s 3:00 a.m. local time and she welcomes us to Heraklion, a town on a Grecian island of Kriti, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Eventually we start to hear the voices of young women chanting in unison, “Say uh, ah, Malia!”, Malia being one of the small costal cities on this island with many resorts and clubs, a big party town for European youngsters. A camera shot opens with three young British women riding in the back of a taxi, the smallest girl Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) is wearing a grey hoodie, she’s complaining about being tired because of Em (Enva Lewis), saying she had to do all the work on booking this vacation for them. Soon they’ve arrived at the beach, the sun hasn’t quite risen yet as the sunlight begins to bathe the horizon behind them in a deep orange hue. In the early morning light Tara strips down to her underlying swim wear and yells, “I’m going in! Come on!”, before being joined in the cold waters by the third member of the trio, Skye (Lara Peake) and Em. The girls swim, play in the water and chant the Uh, ah, Malia song that we heard briefly before in it’s entirety, as the sun continues to brighten up the early morning sky. We’re given glimpses of their strong female friendship and bonds through the dialogue as one of the girls proclaims, “I f***ing love you guys!”. They exit the chilly waters, Tara and Skye wrap themselves in a towel and light up cigarettes as Em talks about being starving and getting some chips, the English equivalent of French fries. As they’re eating their fries, the girls try and check in at a hotel and Em is turned turned down by a receptionist about getting a room poolside. Tara runs over and makes up a story about how Skye can’t swim very well, she’s a lifeguard for the county back home and they need to keep an eye on her, thus requiring a poolside room, which they’re then granted. 

The girls sleep out on lounge chairs in the sun next to the pool until their room is available. As they enter the room the boisterous Tara starts loudly shouting again about how incredible it all is, praising the butterfly decorations in the bathroom and other hotel room particulars, which begin to give the film the partying and youthful exuberance vibes it encapsulates more fully as the runtime continues. Tara goes out onto the second floor patio, and although the pool is completely surrounded by the hotel rooms with no actual view of anything interesting, she again loudly declares, “Best view I’ve ever seen in my life”, to anyone and everyone in the vicinity. The trio begin singing and dancing again on the balcony. We skip ahead as they go out shopping for food which mainly consists of bags of chips, alcohol and a large inflatable donut with a bite out of it. As we continue following them on holiday, the girls go out clubbing, drinking, very badly singing karaoke, puking, dancing and as they walk back to the hotel, they discuss spending their lives together and staying friends after school. They pass out on their bed together in their underwear and although the girls stay in an almost constant state of being half dressed, the female director doesn’t linger on any shots of their bodies and wisely avoids any exploitative aspects to the filmmaking. The next morning while Tara is doing her makeup on the balcony, we meet Badger (Shaun Thomas) on an adjacent balcony, who shows an interest in the pretty girl and tries to strike up a conversation. Badger is there with a couple of his friends as well and the two trios end up spending time together besides partying and clubbing. Eventually we’re clued into the fact that Tara is a virgin as Skye makes some passive aggressive comments about it periodically, poking fun at her amongst their new friends. As the party continues though, Tara’s inexperience in the ways of love and sex result in decisions that have far reaching and heavy hitting consequences that echo through the films bitter and melancholic conclusion.

This cinematic experience is extremely grounded, at times it feels more like a documentary of these girl’s holiday vacation and not full length fictional film. The extreme realism the film presents along with the incredible cast of very young actors make for some powerhouse moments that assist to buying into everything the film is selling. The script which was written by the writer/ director, the aforementioned Molly Manning Walker, is telling us what feels like a very personal experience, leading to the film feeling so real. Of the three lead protagonists, Mia McKenna-Bruce is the one that gets the most screen time, and for good reason, as she is the character with the most pronounced arc. McKenna-Bruce sells us entirely on this young woman’s journey as she learns the hard way about a few aspects of life, a few of the scenes she delivers just break your heart. But really, the entirety of the films central trio, Enva Lewis, Lara Peake and ultimately the entire ensemble cast of characters are all fully fleshed out individuals, each with emotional resonance. The cinematography of the film is quite excellent, probably because the director, Walker, has also done quite a bit of work as a cinematographer. There are many close up shots and frames that linger on the actors faces that are very well composed and capture the delicate moments of depth behind their eyes. Also the lighting and strobe effects of some of the club sequences were entrancing, with some impressive editing on display as well to help capture the atmosphere of the drinking and partying vibes. But this is no ordinary teen party film. If you didn’t gather as much from the synopsis, this film has far more on it’s mind about life and our decisions. This can be an important film for parents to watch with their teens, especially their teenage daughters. Like the criminally underseen Palm Trees And Power Lines, these kinds of films can serve as a catalyst for parents to open up conversations with young women to help them think about some of the decisions that can have far reaching implications in their lives.

SUMMARY - While this film isn’t exactly a masterpiece of cinematic flair, it’s beating heart lies in the characters and their journey, with the movie surrounding them being of enough quality to really land this solid effort from Molly Manning Walker. This film is much more contemplative than just a generic film on Having Sex, but instead offers us a How To lesson about understanding the events that shape us into who we are.