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Anne-Marie Duff is excited that her new project, the revenge thriller Reunion, will be airing on BBC One and available on iPlayer rather than a streaming platform. The series, which highlights the deaf community, will reach a broad audience, not just those who can afford streaming subscriptions.

Duff, who stars as Christine Mokhar, emphasized how important it is to have the series on a public broadcaster. “It’s the BBC, so you know, it’s going to be seen by everyone, not just people who can afford to pay streaming fees,” she said. “Watching TV has become quite an expensive hobby now. And just the idea, always and ever, that what we do can be important and that there’s a point to it, and anyone who feels marginalized gets to see themselves is a huge relief.”

The four-part drama follows Daniel Brennan, played by Matthew Gurney, a deaf man...

Anne-Marie Duff (Bad Sisters) is really happy that her latest project, the revenge thriller series Reunion, set in the deaf community and debuting in the U.K. on Monday, is airing on public broadcaster BBC and its iPlayer streaming service.

“It’s the BBC, so you know, it’s going to be seen by everyone, not just people who can afford to pay streaming fees. That’s important because watching TV has become quite an expensive hobby now. And just the idea, always and ever, that what we do can be important and that there’s a point to it, and anyone who feels marginalized gets to see themselves is a huge relief.”

The four-part drama, starring Matthew Gurney as a deaf man who gets to leave prison after years of incarceration, Lara Peake, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis, was written by Sheffield-born deaf writer William Mager and produced by Sheffield-based Warp Films,...

“There was something I liked about the script, and once I read it all, I knew this is the moment I’ve been waiting for for a good 20 years.” That’s what star Matthew Gurney told the crowd at London’s BFI Southbank on Thursday evening during a panel discussion following a screening of the first episode of the upcoming BBC revenge thriller Reunion, set in the deaf community.

The four-part thriller, also starring Gurney as a deaf man who gets to leave prison after years of incarceration, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis, was written by Sheffield-born deaf writer William Mager and produced by Sheffield-based Warp Films, the production firm behind Netflix hit drama Adolescence. The bilingual series, filmed in and around Sheffield, features both British Sign Language (Bsl) and spoken English.

The BBC will start airing the show Monday, with BBC Studios selling the series...

Written and produced by deaf creator William Mager, Series Mania premiere “Reunion” never leaves its lead’s side.

“I’ve seen stories of deaf characters told from a hearing person’s point of view. This show says what it means to be a deaf person from the point of view of a deaf person,” says Luke Snellin, who directed the series.

“What is it like to sit in front of a probation officer, explaining you’re deaf? We would take the sound away or put the camera behind his head and over his ear – precisely to put the audience in his shoes.”

Mager adds: “When you are deaf, communication is difficult anyway. But it’s also difficult to talk about things that happened to you, things that are hard to process. It can be hard to open up.”

Especially for his tortured protagonist, played by Matthew Gurney: fresh out...

The BBC has released a trailer for its upcoming four-part revenge thriller Reunion, starring Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis. Written by Sheffield-born deaf writer William Mager and produced by Sheffield-based Warp Films, the production firm behind Netflix series Adolescence.

The U.K. public broadcaster also unveiled launch dates for the bilingual series, filmed in and around Sheffield, featuring both British Sign Language (Bsl) and spoken English. All four episodes of Reunion will be available on the streaming service BBC iPlayer from 6 a.m. London time Monday, April 7, with episodes airing on BBC One on Mondays and Tuesdays starting at 9 p.m. that night.

Reunion, whose set THR visited last year, is a redemption thriller following the journey of Daniel Brennan, played by Gurney (Name Me Lawand, Theatre Ad Infinitum), a deaf man determined to right his wrongs while unraveling the truth behind the events that led him to prison.

Reunion is a revenge drama about a deaf man determined to right his wrongs and it breaks new ground for a mainstream drama with its cast and crew and bilingual mix of spoken English and British Sign Language.

Writer William Mager tells Deadline the show “starts as a typical thriller, but by the end it’s morphed into something much more emotional, much more personal.” The Sheffield-born deaf writer adds that the elements relating to the deaf character and community were “easy to write, because you’re writing your own truth.”

Playing in the International Panorama section at Series Mania, the drama follows Daniel Brennan (Matthew Gurney), a deaf man released from prison, and trying to find out about the events that led to his incarceration.

Speaking the morning after the world premiere, Mager and director Luke Snellin explained the inspiration for the series included classic revenge thrillers from the 1970s as well as westerns,...

Thirteen-year-old Jamie gets arrested and accused of the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school. That is the premise of the new Netflix drama series Adolescence from U.K. producer Warp Films, based in Sheffield. Co-created by and starring Stephen Graham as Jamie’s father, along with Ashley Walters (Top Boy), Erin Doherty (The Crown), Christine Tremarco (The Responder) and others, the show was filmed in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, and launched on the global streamer Thursday.

Reunion, a revenge thriller set in the deaf community in Sheffield, stars Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis and will launch on the BBC this year. The bilingual series, featuring both British Sign Language (Bsl) and spoken English, similarly pushes the envelope with a deaf protagonist who tries to unravel the truth behind the events that led him to prison.

“We’ve always tried to...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Chaos: The Manson Murders (Errol Morris)

Over half a century later, what new information can be gleaned from the nights of August 9 and 10, 1969? Tom O’Neill and Dan Piepenbring’s riveting (if convoluted) book Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties––released in June 2019, between the Cannes premiere and theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino’s cathartic rewrite of that history––argues that while all the evidence of the murders has been gleaned, there’s a complex and knotty web of conspiracies for the motivations, some more plausible than others. To pare down the 528-page book to its most overarching theory, it postulates Manson may have been allowed (and perhaps even directed) by the CIA to concoct a reign...

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This March, Netflix is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated murder mystery series The Residence to the star-studded sci-fi adventure film The Electric State. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Netflix this month and have an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the seven best films that are coming to Netflix in February 2025 with an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Beginners (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% Credit – Focus Features

Beginners is a romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. The 2010 film follows Oliver, a young man still grieving the recent death of his father. He soon meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna and tries to use the memories of his father to motivate himself to open himself up to the...

The BBC has revealed the first images from Reunion, a new four-part thriller starring Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan, and Rose Ayling-Ellis. The bilingual series, filmed in Sheffield, incorporates both British Sign Language (Bsl) and spoken English. Here’s the Lowdown: Reunion, written by deaf Sheffield native William Mager, tells the story of […]

First Look: BBC’s Reunion – A Deaf-Led Thriller Set in Sheffield...

The BBC has released first-look pictures for the brand-new four-part thriller ‘Reunion,’ starring Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis.

The thriller is an emotional thriller of revenge and redemption following the journey of Daniel Brennan, played by Matthew Gurney, a deaf man determined to right his wrongs while unravelling the truth behind the events that led him to prison. Brennan embodies the struggle of a man caught between two worlds, unable to fully integrate into the hearing world and shunned by his closest friends and the wider deaf community following his heinous crime. Amidst this isolation, Brennan’s only meaningful relationship is with his estranged daughter Carly, played by Lara Peake, who he has not had any contact with since his arrest over a decade ago.

The first-look pictures set against the striking landscape of Sheffield and the Peak District offer a glimpse of the lead cast in their roles.

Exclusive: Malcom McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Alex Hassell (Rivals) will star in crime thriller Dog & Bull, with Essential Film Group launching sales on pic at the EFM.

Written and directed by James Marquand (Dead Man’s Cards), the feature from Blackwater Pictures also stars Sinead Cusack (Napoleon), Lara Peake (How to Have Sex), Francis Magee (Layer Cake), Bobby Schofield (Cherry) and Paul Barber (The Full Monty). Tiernan Handy is producing along with Kevin Harvey, Simon Marriott and Antoine Dixon-Bellot, and Essential has boarded for worldwide sales.

Per the synopsis, Dog & Bull is billed as “a dark, hard-boiled crime-thriller, with black comedy undertones, in which legendary actor McDowell stars as a fugitive criminal hiding out as a pub landlord who questions his identity when he gets discovered by a psychotic hitman (Hassell), who is also his biggest fan.”

McDowell grew up as the son of a publican, who ran a...

“Reunion is an old-fashioned thriller that I hope feels like a classic ’70s American thriller but for the present day,” signs William “Billy” Mager as we are seated in an office in Sheffield, just around the corner from the set of the four-episode series for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K. BBC Studios is selling the drama internationally and launching it as a priority title at MIPCOM in Cannes this week. It may be set in the former industrial city in Northern England but will appeal to a global audience, Mager adds.

Since my sign language skills are still very basic, a translator is at hand. “It’s nice to have a mixture of universal themes, as well as that specificity because the city of Sheffield does play a part in the series,” Mager explains. “You have the history, you have an incredible location here, and it...

Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral headlined by Ralph Fiennes, Paul Andrew Williams’ The Nest starring Andrea Riseborough and Jan Komasa’s Jeremy Thomas-produced Good Boy are among the projects backed by the Yorkshire Content Fund and in production across the summer.

The Yorkshire Content Fund, administered by Screen Yorkshire, has been supporting local production since 2012. It was initially set up with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (Erdf), which was awarded through the now-defunct regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward.

Following the demise of the regional development agency structure in 2012, the Yorkshire Content Fund continued to support production in...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Astrakan (David Depesseville)

Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...

How to Have Sex explores the complexities of consent and the pressures of sexuality on teenagers in a nuanced and honest way. The film authentically portrays the shame and guilt associated with sexual assault and highlights the difficulty of discussing sex under such circumstances. Mia McKenna-Bruce delivers a powerful and layered performance as Tara, effectively conveying the emotional turmoil and discomfort experienced by her character.

Coming-of-age movies can be the most honest and deep when it comes to exploring people in their growth and experiences. How to Have Sex, written and directed by Molly Manning Walker, is a nuanced, searing portrait of consent, and how one’s discomfort can easily be overlooked, even by friends. There’s pressure to have sex as a teenager, a rite of passage before graduation and moving into young adulthood. How to Have Sex is gentle in its handling of a sensitive subject, and expertly...

British cinematographer and filmmaker Molly Manning Walker had quite the year in 2023. She was the cinematographer for Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, a British drama focusing on a broken relationship between a Father and Daughter. Most notably, she released her feature directorial debut ‘How to Have Sex’. This follows three teenage gal pals going on a rite-of-passage girl’s holiday to Malia, where they plan to drink, club and hook up to their heart’s content. What should be the best summer of their lives turns sour, when lead Tara experiences a shocking encounter with a guy they’ve buddied up with on their trip. Exploring the topic of consent in a heart-breaking yet honest way, How to Have Sex is an important slice of realism that showcases excellent direction, tremendous performances and tells a story worth telling.

En route to Malia, the girls are chatty and excited. The main topic...

After winning the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes last year, Molly Manning Walker’s singular debut How to Have Sex has been racking up BAFTA nominations and widespread acclaim to nobody’s surprise. The film is much more than a fresh look at female adolescence and early sexual experiences (read: hurtful disappointments), shining bright with actress Mia McKenna-Bruce’s lead performance as Tara, a bubbly teen eager to lose her V-card. What better place to do so than a Greek seaside resort where most of the things you can find on public display begin with a b, like: Brits, booze, and blowjobs. Tara, Skye (Lara Peake), and Em (Enva Lewis) are done with exams and embrace their first summer getaway far from home by partying alongside a pretty-boy type named Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) and his wisecracker friend, Badger (Shaun Thomas), to see where this can go.

Molly Manning Walker...

It’s quiet but Poor Things and American Fiction are selling tickets.

The Yorgos Lanthimos film starring Emma Stone enters the weekend at just over $26 million on 1,950 screens, continuing a strong theatrical run for a movie some have called bonkers but is zipping along. American Fiction adds a few hundred screens this weekend in the latest leg of a carefully orchestrated platform release that has really worked for this film.

A24’s Zone Of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s landmark Holocaust film, is expanding. New specialty openings include Magnolia Pictures’ The Promised Land, Mubi’s How To Have Sex and Kino Lorber’s Skin Deep.

It’s a weekend with just one studio wide release that may have petered out. Some recent weeks have had zero new wide release. That’s been helping specialty films.

Poor Things’ screen count is down from about 2,400 last week, which was the widest since a Dec.

Pro-tip: as our current leap year turns the page into February, it’s a good idea to stock up on artificial tears at the Cvs. Why? Because this is an exceptionally intense month for movie-watching. In addition to your 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards screeners, there’s also an exciting collection of Don’t-Miss Indies hitting theaters and streamers, from combat-heavy martial arts action sagas to gentle culinary dramas. So put on some more tea, snuggle up with your kitty, puppy, snake or waifu body pillow of choice, and get to watchin’!

True Detective: Night Country

When You Can Watch: Now

Where You Can Watch: HBO, Max

Director: Issa López

Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw

Why We’re Excited: The fourth season of HBO’s anthology crime drama is the first one for which creator Nic Pizzolatto does not serve as the showrunner or writer; those responsibilities now fall to Mexican filmmaker Issa López,...

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Tara in How To Have Sex. Image: Film4 How To Have Sex made a big splash last May at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Un Certain Regard prize at the prestigious event. Since then the film has been making the rounds on the festival circuit—including...

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Tara in How To Have Sex. Image: Film4

How To Have Sex made a big splash last May at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Un Certain Regard prize at the prestigious event. Since then the film has been making the rounds on the festival circuit—including...

All Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) wants to do is get to the coastal Greek town of Malia, get some quality time with her BFFs — Em (Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake) — and spend the next few days getting royally fucked up. This unholy trinity of 16-year-olds have just finished their final exams back in London, and now they’re heading to one of those sunbaked Mediterranean resorts favored by British teens looking to blow off steam. The plan is to use “party” as a verb as much as possible, and the...

The title of Molly Manning Walker’s feature-length directorial debut seems to promise a self-help guide to navigating the knotty ins and outs of physical desire. And given how it starts, with ready-to-party besties Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Lara Peake), and Em (Enva Lewis) touching down in the coastal town of Malia in Crete, Greece, for their first holiday abroad, one might also anticipate that a redux of Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is afoot.

Writer-director Manning Walker, though, has cooked up something far less ironic and fragmentary with How to Have Sex, though like Korine’s film, it’s interested in how the prospect of hardcore partying doesn’t transform from fantasy into nightmare in a flash. Rather, it oscillates from one to the other simultaneously, creating a gradual, narcotizing effect that makes sorting out one’s emotions, especially when they’re being newly felt, next to impossible.

Above all,...

If you've been anticipating the online arrival of Molly Manning Walker's stark, affecting drama :a[How To Have Sex]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/how-to-have-sex/' }, we bring good news… Mubi has announced that the film will land on its streaming service on 29 December.

Mia McKenna-Bruce stars as Tara, who hops on a plane in search of sun, shots and her sexual awakening with friends Skye (Lara Peake) and Em (Enva Lewis). The trio make friends with hotel neighbours Badger (Shaun Thomas), Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) and Paige (Laura Ambler), and embark on an exploration of the Grecian nightlife, partying all night and figuring out their futures, friendships and feelings as they go.

We were very taken with the film — in fact, it made our :a[Best Films Of 2023 list]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movies-2023/' } — and so we're excited for more people to get the chance to see it.

"The year's breakout film." Is it really? Mubi has unveiled another official trailer for the British party film titled How to Have Sex, now opening in US theaters in February. Marking the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Molly Manning Walker, this premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival where it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section. It has made stops at other fests with a European debut on Mubi this fall. Three British teen girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday – drinking, clubbing, hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives. But it turns into a cautionary tale about the pressures of sex, consent, and self-discovery. More of a film about how not to have sex, which is the whole point. Breakout star Mia McKenna-Bruce plays Tara, starring with Samuel Bottomly, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler. The film...

Molly Manning-Walker’s educational, eye-opening debut feature, How to Have Sex, initially has a partial air of the now-canceled BBC Three show Sun, Sex, and Suspicious Parents. That series was a small, albeit noteworthy snippet of British television history, whereby a group of fun-loving, party-going, of-age adolescents descend on a Mediterranean party island blissfully oblivious to the fact their every move is being closely followed by their overbearing and invariably dumbfounded parents, appalled by their drunken indignity and debauchery. While How to Have Sex is devoid of privacy-invading guardians, the very British coming-of-age tradition of “lads” and “girls” holidays collides head-on with Manning-Walker’s understated and subtle lesson in consent.

Kicking-off in Malia on the Greek island of Crete, we’re introduced to our primary protagonist, Tara (played exceptionally by Mia McKenna-Bruce) along with her two BFFs, Em (Enva Lewis), and Skye (Lara Peake), venturing out on their first girls holiday.

To celebrate the release of How To Have Sex, which opens in UK cinemas next month, we had the pleasure of chatting with the cast and writer/director to find out more.

Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday, drinking, clubbing, and hooking up in what should be the best summer of their lives. As they dance their way across the sun-drenched streets of Malia, they find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent, and self-discovery. Captured with luminous visuals and a pitch-perfect soundtrack, Manning Walker’s directorial debut paints a painfully familiar portrait of young adulthood, and how first sexual experiences should – or shouldn’t – play out. How To Have Sex stars Screen Stars of Tomorrow 2023 Mia McKenna-Bruce and BAFTA-nominated Samuel Bottomley, alongside Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler.

Chatting with writer/director Walker and her stars, we chat about the success...

How to have a memorable spring break? Set out to lose your virginity…cautiously.

Molly Manning Walker’s Cannes breakout film “How to Have Sex” is a twisted coming-of-age story about a group of 16-year-old British girls who go on a vacation to Greece with the mission to help their shyest pal finally go all the way. “Scrapper” cinematographer Walker writes and directs her feature debut, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes this year.

It’s supposed to be the best summer ever. Tara, Skye, and Em touch down on the Greek party resort of Malia for the vacation to end all vacations, the girls trip every British teenager ticks off at the cusp of adulthood. Tara, the last remaining virgin, is on a mission to change that: and her best friends are causing chaos right alongside her. The 16-year-old drinks and dances her way through the...

"Best holiday ever!" Mubi has revealed a trailer for the film with a provocative title - How to Have Sex. Marking the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Molly Manning Walker, this premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival where it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section. Three British teen girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday – drinking, clubbing, hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives. But it turns into a cautionary tale about the pressures of sex, consent, and self-discovery. More of a film about how not to have sex, which is the whole point. Breakout star Mia McKenna-Bruce plays Tara, starring with Samuel Bottomly, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler. While many critics seem to be a fan, I'm not – I wrote a scathing review in Cannes about how empty it is... It's one big party movie...

Mubi has released the full-length UK and Irish trailer for Molly Manning Walker’s hugely anticipated, Cannes Award-winning debut, ‘How To Have Sex.’

Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday, drinking, clubbing and hooking up in what should be the best summer of their lives. As they dance their way across the sun-drenched streets of Malia, they find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery. Captured with luminous visuals and a pitch-perfect soundtrack, Manning Walker’s directorial debut paints a painfully familiar portrait of young adulthood, and how first sexual experiences should – or shouldn’t – play out.

The movie is said to be a vibrant and authentic depiction of the agonies, ecstasies and ride-or-die glory of young female friendship, from rising British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker, who wrote and directed the film.

Screen Stars of Tomorrow 2023 Mia McKenna-Bruce (Persuasion, Kindling) and BAFTA-nominated Samuel Bottomley (Somewhere Boy,...

"Best holiday ever!" Mubi has unveiled a quick teaser trailer for How to Have Sex, the acclaimed British film marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Molly Manning Walker. This first premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, winning the Best Film top prize within the Un Certain Regard section; it's also playing at TIFF and London this fall before the release. Molly Manning Walker's "vibrant depiction of the agonies and ecstasies of young adulthood." Three British teens go on a rites-of-passage trip to Greece – drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer. It turns into a social parable about a young woman dealing with peer pressure, making bad decisions about losing her virginity. Mia McKenna-Bruce stars as Tara, with Shaun Thomas, Lara Peake, Enva Lewis, Laura Ambler, & Samuel Bottomley. I wrote a scathing review of this at Cannes, as I think it's just another party movie.

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing some incredible feature debuts on the big screen over the past year or so, particularly from female directors – Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Celine Song’s Past Lives, Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane, and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, to name a few. That trend is set to continue with Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, a Cannes award-winning drama following three teen girls as they go on their first major holiday abroad to Malia.

Mia McKenna-Bruce stars as Tara, who hops on a plane in search of sun, shots and her sexual awakening with friends Skye (Lara Peake) and Em (Enva Lewis). The trio make friends with hotel neighbours Badger (Shaun Thomas), Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) and Paige (Laura Ambler), and embark on an exploration of the Grecian nightlife, partying all night and figuring out their futures, friendships and feelings as they go. Watch...

Other winners included ’Hounds’, ’The Mother Of All Lies’, ’Goodbye Julia’ and ’The Buriti Flower’.

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How To Have Sex has won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27).

The film follows a group of teenage girls on a rite-of-passage clubbing holiday, and was shot in Greece with a cast including Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake and Samuel Bottomley. It is produced by Wild Swim Films and co-producer Heretic, with backing by Film4, BFI and mk2 Films, with Mubi releasing in the UK, North America and other key territories.

Touching down in Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete, marks the beginning of summer holidays for Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Lara Peake), and Em (Enva Lewis), a trio of best friends who have just taken their A-levels and for whom school is the last thing on their mind. The first thing is… well, the title gives it away. British teens on holiday at a Greek resort means booze, booze, and more booze, but Molly Manning Walker’s debut film has the power to take these prosaic cultural archetypes and use them as tools to tell a poignant story about the ambivalences of growing up, female friendships, and consent.

Amidst a lot of vodka, “never have I ever,” and pool parties, the girls form their own gravitational center and stick to it. Yet their friendship is not without complications: underneath the surface of jokes and banter lies a layer of teen-girl angst,...

Since the dawn of time, women have capitulated to men. Men have been manipulating and breaking women for their pleasure and their gain as long as there has been pleasure, and as long as there has been anything to gain. In Molly Manning Walker's absolutely essential directorial debut "How To Have Sex," we come face to face with the realities of those impulses, and how men still betray women in this way, even those who have yet to surrender their bright, wide-eyed innocence. The writer-director expertly captures both a sense of beautiful, optimistic whimsy young people have as they start to embark on their coming of age, and the dark prison of isolation that comes when an unexpected tragedy sets fire to the hope that lives inside them.

"How To Have Sex" follows Mia McKenna-Bruce's Tara, a 16-year-old Southern English girl who takes a trip to Greece in a rite-of-passage pilgrimage to party.

Anyone seeking to describe “How to Have Sex” for potential American viewers is liable to land on the term “spring break” in the process: It is, after all, a story about hard-partying teenagers heading to a sunny coastal resort for several nights of boozy, horny, wholly unsupervised antics. Yet the teens here are British, the destination one of those grisly Mediterranean club hubs geared entirely toward British tourists, and the partying so distinctly British in its aims and etiquette that the translation hardly applies. The vacation presented here is as much like a quintessential spring break as Molly Manning Walker’s fresh, head-turning debut feature is like Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers” — superficially similar in its pile-driving social chaos and eye-searing fluorescent visuals, but with a very different, damaged heart beating underneath it all.

“How to Have Sex” is equally likely to endure comparisons to Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” last year...

It could have been just another teen coming of age tale but debut British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker manages to give a fresh spin on territory that has been frequently explored.

She manages to evoke the true bonds of friendship between her female protagonists who arrive on a Greek island after just having graduated from school and before they embark on University career.

Their main aim is to have fun and sex - and Mia McKenna Bruce, Lara Peake and Enya Lewis give the trio a real sense of complicity and chemistry as they splash on the shore, lie on the beach and eye up the talent.

The film captures the hedonistic atmosphere of young people bent on partying all day and night. They hook up with Shaun Thomas, Sam Bottomley and Laura Ambler who are older and more experienced.

As the relationships intertwine Manning Walker introduces the undercurrents that cut through what seemed.

Less an instructional film than a sloppy-drunk after school special about a girls trip gone wrong, Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex” folds a nuanced look at the pressures and permissiveness of teenage friendships inside a frustratingly didactic story about the vagaries of consent. Needless to say, that’s not the movie Walker’s three 16-year-old heroines were hoping to be in when they arrived on the Greek island of Malia for the kind of boot-and-rally bacchanalia that British kids have turned into a rite of passage. They signed up for “Spring Breakers,” only to find themselves stranded in something closer to an episode of “Skins.”

It’s not their fault. Best friends Tara, Em, and Skye have no way of knowing they’ve walked into a trap. They can’t hear the muted soundscape that Walker creates for them as they arrive on their first beach; they...

“Why’s the world so tough? It’s like walking through meat in high heels.” This line comes from Alan Clarke’s 1987 TV movie Road, an adaptation of Jim Cartwright’s stage play, and it goes some way towards explaining the visceral and sensory experience that is Molly Manning Walker’s quite exceptional debut How to Have Sex.

In British cinema, working-class stories lost a major advocate when Clarke died soon after, in 1990, but Walker recovers some of that lost ground with her Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard entry, a subtle but powerful deconstruction of teenage dreams and desires that explores class and culture in a similarly human way.

Walker’s sterling work as a Dp — notably in the upcoming Sundance London opener Scrapper — proved she certainly has an eye, but her feature debut proves she also has a very distinct and confident voice. For a vague comparison, you...

Tara and her friends decamp to a garish holiday resort on the lookout for her first sexual experience in Molly Manning Walker’s strong debut feature

Full-on energy, likable performances and uncompromisingly daft jokes turbocharge this debut feature from British film-maker Molly Manning Walker, about three teenage girls up for the holiday of a lifetime in the party town of Malia in Crete, and trying not to think about the exam results which their parents could tactlessly text them at any moment.

The film delivers an intriguingly sympathetic, complex and even mysterious performance from Mia McKenna-Bruce as the shyest of the trio: Tara, whose face in closeup registers subtly shifting moods. For her, the quest for sex means more than for the others. She has still not had experience. Manning Walker herself coolly manages the film’s own mood, drifting towards crisis and retreating from it.

Tara, or Taz, and...

It’s already been a good year for the English cinematographer turned writer-director Molly Manning Walker. A film that she shot, “Scrapper,” won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, as well as praise for her vibrant lensing. Now, her first feature, the intimate, near-anthropological “How to Have Sex,” premieres as part of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. And to top it off, Mubi has already acquired the title for major territories.

“How to Have Sex” follows three female teens on a summer holiday in the loud, hectic party town of Malia, Crete. Having just completed their Gcse exams, the English trio are ready to let off steam by drinking, dancing and getting laid. This latter goal ranks as the most sensitive for petite Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), who still retains her virginity. The film shows how having sex as a teenager is complicated and the role that peer pressure and consent...

Streamer Disney+ has revealed a power packed British cast who will join the previously announced David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner and Danny Dyer on the series adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s steamy novel “Rivals.”

Joining the eight-part saga are Annabel Scholey (“The Split”), Maggie Steed (“Ten Percent”), David Calder (“Motherland”), Antony Byrne (‘”The Witcher”), Denise Black (“Queer as Folk”), Bryony Hannah (“Call The Midwife”), Olivia Poulet (“Back”) and Brendan Patricks (“Downton Abbey”).

“Rivals” is part of Cooper’s bestselling “Rutshire Chronicles,” set in affluent 1980s England where two powerful men and neigbors – Olympian turned politician Rupert Campbell-Black and television exec Tony Baddingham – have a longstanding rivalry that finally comes to a head.

Scholey plays Beattie Johnson, a ruthless Fleet Street journalist who will do anything for a story. Steed plays Lady Gosling, the steely no-nonsense chair of Independent Broadcasters Association. Calder plays Lady Gosling’s dogmatic right-hand man, Fergus Penney,...

Mubi has acquired all rights for Molly Manning Walker’s directorial debut “How to Have Sex” for major territories.

The deal covers North America, U.K., Ireland, Italy, Latin America, Turkey and Benelux ahead of the movie’s world premiere at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section.

Theatrical releases are planned for key territories, including the U.S. and U.K. In Benelux, the film will be released theatrically in partnership with Imagine Film Distribution. Following theatrical releases, the film will premier exclusively on Mubi in all territories acquired.

Written and directed by Manning Walker, “How to Have Sex” stars Mia McKenna-Bruce (“Persuasion”) alongside Lara Peake (“Mood”), Shaun Thomas (“Ali & Ava”), Samuel Bottomley (“Somewhere Boy”), and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler. The film was shot by Nicolas Canniccioni.

In the film, three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday – drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should...

Mubi has acquired British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex, which is set to debut in Un Certain Regard at the forthcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The streamer has taken all rights for North America, the UK, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, Turkey, and Benelux. Announcing the deal, Mubi said theatrical releases are planned for “key territories,” including the US and UK, while a theatrical release in the Benelux will be hosted in partnership with Imagine Film Distribution. Following theatrical releases, the film will debut on Mubi in all territories acquired.

Written and directed by Walker, the pic stars Mia McKenna-Bruce alongside Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, Samuel Bottomley, and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler. The film was shot by Nicolas Canniccioni.

Billed as an “exuberant, nuanced and painfully honest” tale...

Film is the debut from Screen Star of Tomorrow Molly Manning Walker, sold by mk2 Films.

Global film distributor Mubi has acquired all rights for UK filmmaker Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex for North America, UK, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, Turkey, and Benelux ahead of its world premiere next month in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.

Mubi picked up the title from France’s mk2 Films.

Theatrical releases are planned for key territories, including the US and UK. In Benelux the film will be released theatrically in partnership with Imagine Film Distribution. Following theatrical releases, the film...

How to Have Sex

Winner of the 2021 Next Step Critics’ Week prize, Molly Manning Walker moved into a November shoot late last year for the shot in Greece How to Have Sex – which was project supported by Film4, BFI and MK2. A cinematographer for the past decade (recent works include the Sundance 2023 feature Scrapper and a Radiohead video), the British filmmaker enlisted Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, Sam Bottomley and newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler for the project. Her first short Good Thanks, You? premiered in the Critics’ Week section.

Gist: This follows a group of teenage girls as they navigate early sexual encounters on a rite of passage clubbing holiday.…...

It might be tempting to dismiss passionate singer Sasha (creator Nicôle Lecky) as she spirals out of control and leaves her family, ex-boyfriend, and home in the dust. Tempestuous and desperate to become famous enough to achieve her dreams, Sasha is introduced to her audience in flashes of messy nights out, blurry memories of bad decisions past, careening camera angles and sporadic song breaks as her imagination runs wild and reveals glimpses into her psyche.

As based on Lecky’s 2019 monologue “Superhoe” (a great title sadly lost in translation) and directed by Stroma Cairns and Dawn Shadforth, “Mood” appears to tell the story of a woman determined to burn her life to the ground. Instead, the BBC show (premiering Nov. 6 on BBC America and AMC+) becomes something else — and then something else, and something else, and something else. One after the other, Lecky’s shrewd scripts peel off layers of...

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The musical drama Mood arrives on BBC America having followed a one-woman-show-to-tv-series pipeline similar to the one that previously yielded Chewing Gum and Fleabag.

Does that mean Mood creator/star Nicôle Lecky is the next Michaela Coel or Phoebe Waller-Bridge? That’s a high and fairly unreasonable bar to expect any relative newcomer to reach, but based on this series, it’s obvious that Lecky is a charismatic and versatile performer with a distinctive writing voice and some provocative, if maybe not revelatory, things on her mind.

At only six episodes of 45-ish minutes apiece, Mood is worth watching as Lecky’s breakout, regardless of whether or not she follows in the sprawling footsteps of those recent generational talents.

Lecky plays Sasha, a largely directionless 20-something living with her mom (Jessica Hynes), stepdad (Paul Kaye) and bratty teenage half-sister (Mia Jenkins) in East London.

Exclusive: The Worst Person In The World and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire outfit MK2 has joined UK feature How To Have Sex, which is currently shooting in Greece.

Directed by emerging UK filmmaker Molly Manning Walker (pictured above right), How to Have Sex follows a group of teenage girls as they navigate early sexual encounters on a rite of passage clubbing holiday.

Cast includes Persuasion and Vampire Academy actress Mia McKenna-Bruce (pictured above left) and Lara Peake (Mood) alongside Shaun Thomas (Ali and Ava) and Sam Bottomley (Somewhere Boy), with newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler.

Film4 and the BFI developed the project and are financing the production, alongside Paris-based MK2 Films, which is handling international sales and will be teasing the project to buyers in coming months. Film4 retains TV and on-demand rights in the UK/Ireland.

Wild Swim Films’ Ivana MacKinnon and Emily Leo are producing alongside Heretic’s Konstantinos Kontrovrakis.