How to Have Sex

A year of school has finished it's time for fun, so with your two best friends together you all run, to a place close to the sea, a place in Greece where there'll be glee, unaware of an event to make you glum. To begin with you're a vibrant, glowing girl, taking everything that's thrown in a great whirl, dancing, swimming, drink too much, entertainments what you clutch, but it's not too long before nightmares unfurl. As events accelerate and tides get strong, grabbing hold they take you to a place that's wrong, where advantages are taken, disbelief when you awaken, it's with shock you travel home, where you belong.

An outstanding performance from Mia McKenna-Bruce.

I think any parent of a late-teenage child will be mortified at what goes on when three girls head off to Heraklion in search of sun, sea and sex. They arrive full of beans - determined too have a good time and to get laid. We quickly learn that "Tara" (Mia McKenna-Bruce) has yet to experience that, and she is keen to tick that particular event from her bucket list. Together with pals "Skye" (Lara Peake) and "Em" (Enva Lewis) they hook up with the folks whose balcony is next door. "Tara" takes a bit of a shine to tattooed, van driver, "Badger" (Shaun Thomas) who is there with his friends "Paddy" (Samuel Bottomley) and "Paige" (Laura Ambler). It's on their third night that the film stops being a video-diary of hedonistic behaviour as her friend "Badger" gets blown away by a poolside experience and she finds herself on her own, then on the beach with... What now ensues begin the elements that provides the crux of the point of the film. When is what we want not what we want, when does yes not really mean yes - or it means yes because you just want to get something over with, or yes because you are just curious, or yes because you are too stoked up to think anything through - and are in the arms of a charismatic person? This isn't a violent film in any graphic sense, but it does have quite an emotionally potent impact for a while as the very much on-form McKenna-Bruce juggles her outward, bouncy and lively persona, with a young woman who is still very much growing up - and vulnerable. I didn't love the last twenty minutes - they robbed the film of the much of the ambiguity that hitherto had made it poignant and a talking point. At this point the behaviour becomes just plain wrong and odious - before they all head home. This is a story about a girl, but it could just as easily be about a boy - under self and peer imposed pressures to perform/conform unaware of the longer-term consequences of sand getting everywhere. Snag for me is that the film is just too much of a fly-on-the-wall documentary for the most part. We have to wait too long before the story starts to make it's point effectively, and then I think it rather rushes and compromises the message. It's still worth a watch, though - and McKenna-Bruce is very confident and impressive.

I was curious about this film as many people seemed angry about the trailer that this seemed to be a female inbetweeners kinda film but went extremely dark, I watched it last night and can't help but feel torn on it.

Whilst it felt really natural almost like a documentary on itv2 the characters were slightly on the harder to like side to start but you warm to them especially Tara, who seems genuinely young and immature.

The two incidents of attacks, were believable and natural rather than an aggressive style you'd see in darker films, it was clever to do it that way, to show that there are levels to it.

Whilst I hate how many people volunteer to get into states where they lack control with alcohol it is part of society, but I'm still amazed when smoking gets so much attention, drinking which causes more crime/damage/death gets little attention.

What ruined it from being an important film was the ending, where a quick chat seemed to undo it's impact on her, personally think it should've ended on a sad note as potentially these incidents are life ruining. So think whilst idea was good, it chickened out of following through.

It's many decades since I was a teenager, and over 10 years since my own kids navigated that period for themselves, but if this really is representative of what it's like for the current generation (and I guess I have to believe it is, at least somewhat), then it's kind of sad, I think. I wish them well.

As a film, this takes its time to find a balance, IMHO, but the core characters come through pretty well by the end, although personally I found some of them seriously underwritten (e.g. The lesbian couple) and would have preferred them either silent or absent, or given more to do. However, this is a first-time filmmaker, so perhaps that's a bit harsh.

Don't expect a fun time.

This impressively naturalistic and quietly devastating exploration of consent focuses on sixteen-year-old Tara as she takes a trip to Malia with her best friends, the envy-prone Skye and the empathetic Em, to celebrate the completion of her exams - and, perhaps, to distract her from the anxiety surrounding her soon-to-be-released grades - by drinking, clubbing and maybe, just maybe, hooking up with some strangers. The trip holds extra importance for her, as she's the last of her friends to still be a virgin and feels the need to rectify this before she returns back home (largely due to societal pressure pushed by her peers - or, rather, one in particular). Strikingly realistic in its every aspect, the picture plays out like an authentic coming-of-age slice of life and keenly cuts to the core of a feeling all too familiar with so many of us, particularly women. While it does generally have a fly-on-the-wall vibe, it also makes use of distinct cinematic techniques to draw you wholly into its hero's headspace. It's an intimate, often incredibly uncomfortable picture that has a lot to say and isn't afraid to say it. It doesn't so much start a conversation as it does make its point and let you chew on it; the ethics surrounding its central issues are pretty black and white, and they aren't intended to be debated so much as communicated. Indeed, 'How To Have Sex (2023)' actually has an implied 'Not' in the title. Whether it reflects someone's own experience and makes them feel seen or challenges someone's behaviour and (hopefully) makes them be better in the future, the film will likely resonate deeply with everyone in its audience. Its power grows the longer you have to sit with it, and its true brilliance is only really evident in retrospect. It's a powerful picture, for sure, arguably because of - not in spite of - its general subtlety. It's essential viewing for, well, pretty much everyone, really.