Yes, God, Yes

This film really feels like one of those festival hits that plays best in the festival setting. It addresses some interesting things around religion and sex, and the main character is likeable. It's a bit slow at times though. Worth a watch, but it's going to appeal most to fans of indie and arthouse films or perhaps someone who has left the Catholic faith and deeply relates to the topic.

An honest, funny & thoroughly relatable account of a young girl's sexual awakening, Yes, God, Yes is short, simple & straightforward in its approach, and is brilliantly led by Natalia Dyer's sweet & amusing performance. There is a sincerity in this coming-of-age portrayal and a proper understanding of that awkward teenage phase which makes this film both fun & evocative.

Written & directed by Karen Maine in her directorial debut, the story is adapted from her short film of the same name but the larger canvas & longer runtime offer her an incentive to spread out the plot, create new situations & explore some more themes. However, Maine decides to not venture out further which in turn makes this film look like an overly long version of the more compact & effective short.

Much of the hilarity comes from our very own relatability to the protagonist's journey after she discovers masturbation, experiences sexual urges & lustful desires for the first time and the feeling of guilt, confusion & awkwardness that comes with it and is further exacerbated by her Catholic teachings. And the authenticity with which Dyer articulates her character's temptations & inner turmoil is by all means praiseworthy.

Overall, Yes, God, Yes commences Karen Maine's directorial career on a promising note and is a fascinating depiction of a young girl trying to figure herself out through her curiosities & observations while also serving as a delightfully nostalgic trip down memory lane. Those who have already seen the short may not find anything new or refreshing about it but for the rest, this brief, breezy & brill piece of work is definitely worth a shot.

Karen Maine's Yes, God, Yes won me over for its slice of 2000s nostalgia and the way it portrayed some very relatable things in the lives of teenagers of those times. The story is a little too simplistic, and it doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew. In that sense, the film's climax probably won't seem too revolutionary when viewed in 2020 where 'sinning' is more of an innuendo than something religious.

There are some predictable turns, there are some funny moments, there's a little sexual exploration (something the film could have dwelled more on, given its theme), and there's a neat central performance from Natalia Dyer. For a 25-year-old playing a high-school teenager, I really enjoyed her adorable facial expressions for the most part. The film's only 77 minutes long, so it doesn't take up much of your time in telling a straightforward, unsurprising story.

If you watched The Miseducation of Cameron Post, this film is almost identical, only much more about hypocrisy and no lesbianism. The Kirkos christian retreat depicted in the film actually exists, only it's called Kairos, and the story in the movie seems to be rooted at least partially in an actual experience. I was really expecting this to have been a book adaptation, just like Cameron Post, but it wasn't.

Now the film is pretty good. I don't think they could have found a better lead than Natalia Dyer, of Stranger Things fame, as she seems to be the kind of girl that got forward in life by furrowing her brows and looking innocent. I mean, there is a scene when she claims to be 21 to get a drink in a bar and no one believes her, which I found hilarious as she's 24 in the film. Basically the whole premise of the movie is that most people are hypocritical, expecting from others what they themselves don't do. It's a whole film of people being phony, spreading lies, using terms they don't understand and then the actual "climax" is not the last scene, which was kind of pointless really, it was the bar scene, where the bar owner and the Christian schoolgirl exchange ridiculous Catholic reasons why they thought they're going to hell.

Bottom line: a film that is direct in depiction, but subtle in character emotions and development. Perfect casting choice for the lead and most acting was very good. Overall, a better than average film. I liked it better than The Miseducation of Cameron Post, to which it resembles way too much.

This movie is so spot-on about what it's like going to a Catholic School. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much as I did if I hadn't been raised Catholic and gone to a Catholic high School. The humor is subtle, but it's good. Go into this movie open-minded and I think you'll really enjoy it.