How to Have Sex (2023)
7.7
A drunken summer vacation turns melancholy in this sober observation of teenage rites of passage
Movie
Belgium, France
English, Spanish
Drama
2023
FEMALE DIRECTOR, MOLLY MANNING WALKER
Anna Antoniades, Daisy Jelley, Eilidh Loan
91 min
TLDR
One day, the concept of consent would be so ubiquitous that these teen parties would just be fun memories to treasure.
What it's about
While in summer in Crete, three British teenage girls, Tara, Em, and Skye, go on a rites-of-passage holiday, planning to drink, club, and hook up with the other teenagers, in what should be the best summer of their lives.
The take
While named as a “how-to”, How to Have Sex is less of an instruction manual, and more of a collection of summer break moments presented as is. At the start, when Tara, Em, and Skye run to the freezing ocean water, the film seemed like it would have all the nostalgic coming-of-age moments that they would remember forever. But as the film progresses, and the girls meet other teenagers at the resort, there’s an eerie, foreboding feel that starts to build up, with every beer bottle, with every whisper, and with every insinuation Tara receives. And rather than preach about consent, writer-director Molly Manning Walker makes them fumble around without the concept of it, the same way teens tend to do, making it much more potent than a cautionary tale.
What stands out
Mild spoilers. Many depictions of sexual harassment and assault tend to make the event feel very tragic, almost to the point that the characters never recover. But Mia McKenna-Bruce portrays a different, but more understated performance– a subtle confusion, disappointment, and then discomfort that many girls have tried to hide in real life. And when Em finally hears Tara out, it’s also a joy to see her be listened to and believed.
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