Movie: "How to Have Sex"
Grade: A
by K G Kline
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
Despite its titillating title, "How to Have Sex" is a brutal gut punch of an adolescent coming-of-age film. In her feature-length film debut Molly Manning Walker demonstrates a rare ability to direct teen actors in a way that seems both natural and unscripted.
"How to Have Sex" follows three English self-described "best friends forever" as they embark on a vacation trip. The trio have just completed their college entrance exams and are on the British equivalent of Spring Break at an all-inclusive resort in Crete. Em (Enva Lewis) is the "brainy" one with hopes of becoming a veterinarian, while Skye (Laura Peak) is more concerned with partying and attracting boys. Pulling up the rear is Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), a petite, brash, and insecure teenager described by Skye as a "monster virgin". The film's first act follows the girls from their red-eye flight to Crete, to arriving at the resort and cleverly negotiating a poolside room (the setting will become critical in the film's second act), to finding ways to start partying while waiting for their room to open up.
Manning Walker's background as a cinematographer can be seen in her wonderful use of handheld cameras to convey the look of a home movie, but there's nothing amateurish about her work. Each shot is carefully planned, often employing shallow depth of field to place focus on one person's face, then shifting to another as the subjects change. Her traveling shots through the confines of the resort's small rooms gives a sense of claustrophobia, even as Tara exclaims "It's huge! It's like a whole room!' Walker's camerawork takes away any sense of formality that might have clashed with the film's teen hedonism. I found it easy to accept that the entire film could have been shot by the characters themselves.
Act two begins after a night of heavy partying. The girls are passed out, wrapped together like a trio of sleeping kittens, Tara eventually finds her way to the balcony where she encounters one of the teens from the neighboring room. Badger is a goofy lad with a much-too-large lipstick kiss tattooed on his neck. Like Tara, Badger comes off as a bit insecure, which forms the basis of an early connection they soon share in between drinking and the inevitable trips to the toilet bowl. Skye and Em are more drawn to Paddy, the "fit" lad who is clearly the alpha of the trio and is oh-so-full-of-himself. It isn't long before Skye is recommending that Tara offer up her virginity to Paddy and ignore the more clownish Badger. Their friend Paige completes the set and soon becomes the object of Em's attention ("Do you think she's gay?" she asks Skye and Tara. "Yes!" they scream back.)
All the performances are wonderfully natural. The sense that this is an unscripted movie bears evidence to just how well Manning Walker cast the film. Among them, McKenna-Bruce most truly shines. With little dialog (most of it small talk), she manages to give a remarkably complex physical performance. She's a head shorter than the other girls, and comes across as indecisive and vulnerable, if just a bit shallow. We see a shy teen pretending to be an extroverted party animal. Despite hopes of losing her virginity, as soon as she's alone with Badger, her insecurities surface. We see her squander several opportunities to hook up with the boy she so obviously prefers. McKenna-Bruce's use of her eyes and hands as she stumbles through romantic moments shows her to be an actress with a lot of potential.
Manning Walker uses the contrasting depictions of night and day to great effect. The film's nights are filled with neon lights, loud music, and huge crowds, while the harsh light of day bears silent witness to the night's indulgences. Come morning the streets are empty and littered with last night's trash. Tara staggers through the wreckage like the survivor of a battle. .
"How to Have Sex" is clearly aimed at a female audience, and Manning Walker should be complimented both on what she allows us to see as well as what she doesn't. Unlike many coming-of-age films, (I'm thinking Larry Clark's "Kids.”) there's no nudity or graphic sex, even when the script encourages it. While some views will appreciate this, it's both a positive and a negative, as the first sex scene would have had more impact if it had been a bit longer.
Manning Walker gives her characters both depth and a degree of dignity, even when they're partying like animals. She avoids stereotypes. They are real people doing real things and inevitably suffering for them in very real ways. The fine line between desire and consent is explored, as well the pain of regret. When it's over there are several important lessons to be learned, but the film never tries to push a message on us. We have become witnesses to a train wreck we are powerless to prevent. Solutions are not in the script.
Comparisons can be made between "How to Have Sex" and Andrea Arnold's graphic and provocative "American Honey". Both directors place their female characters front and center and don't turn away when they end up in unpleasant places. "How to Have Sex" is the most realistic depiction of teen girls on the edge of adulthood that I've ever seen.
The film is in English, but the thick British accents require the use of subtitles. You will be thankful for them.