How to Have Sex
February 8th, 2024
MOVIE: HOW TO HAVE SEX
STARRING: MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE, LARA PEAKE, ENVA LEWIS, SHAUN THOMAS
DIRECTED BY: MOLLY MANNING WALKER
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
In Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex, there is a brief moment, amid all the debauchery, where the main character Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) has a glimpse of grown-up fun. It’s an example that you never learn as a teenager. In my high school to college years, I had no clue what healthy fun was and I would fight it till it knocked me out. In How to Have Sex, the lesson is displayed in a gut-wrenching fashion. A glimpse of three teenage girls from London, letting themselves loose in Greece, the goal to have as much “fun” as possible, but that fun will eventually come to a screeching halt.
The trio of ladies are around the age of 16-18, Tara (McKenna-Bruce) is the more timid one of the group and a virgin, lest her friends let her forget. Em (Enva Lewis) is the brains of the group but is ready to let loose from the stress of receiving college acceptance (or rejection) letters. Skye (Lara Peake) is the conceited one, slightly promiscuous, but certainly lying to make herself feel confident. The plans are to go all out. Hit up nightclubs, and pool parties in their resort, meet cute guys, and experience ultimate freedom. It’s enjoyable on the first night out and the beginning of Tara experiencing a weekend that will leave a traumatic memory.
When Tara steps out to the balcony of her hotel room, she catches the eye of Badger (Shaun Thomas), and they exchange smiles. He is bunked up with Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) and Paige (Laura Ambler) and the two groups gravitate to one another. The groups link up and go into town to start the party. There is a connection between Tara and Badger, but Skye also has her eyes on him, and as the nights go along there is jealousy. The goal all week was to have copious amounts of sex and help Tara lose her virginity, but instead, it becomes a dividing conflict. The dynamics of the group start to splinter.
What Walker does so well from the director’s standpoint, is place us into Tara’s shoes, which resonates in her eyes and body language. She is shy, the one who has emphasized making the right decisions, and now she is surrounded by predators. The screenplay draws comparisons to a film such as Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade and has the authenticity of The Florida Project. The power of Audrey Diwan’s Happening is also present, where movies about a woman’s body, and her decisions are under a microscope. But the hovering subject is about consent and how the voices of women must always be heard. It’s a terrifying world and How to Have Sex captures all of its harsh realities.
What resonates is the conversations that will follow, the discussions for parents to have with their children about consent, and the dangers that both sexes can get themselves into. How to Have Sex is not preachy or a PSA to show during Sex Education. This is genuine, groundbreaking, and a powerful example of what cinema can be. The reason it moves past any derivative traps is because of the excellent lead performance from Mia McKenna Bruce and the truly powerful direction from Walker. What is certain is how they capture exactly how terrifying it is to grow up in the world today. How to Have Sex knows exactly what it’s doing.
HOW TO HAVE SEX IS PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 9TH.
3 ½ STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com
