In the opening minutes of How to Have Sex, three high-school girls, barely of age, go on spring break to a Mediterranean resort to indulge in a little partying. British director Molly Manning Walker's debut film won the Grand Prix in the Un Certain Regard selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
This first film stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Samuel Bottomley and Lara Peake in the story of three British friends overexcited at the prospect of the best vacation of their lives. The young women come for nothing more than to get drunk and have their first sexual experiences, but for one of them, Tara, all is not so rosy on vacation.
Molly Manning Walker's talent is palpable, as she manages to stage these evenings with such ease. The key word here is naturalism. It's almost like watching a film byAbdellatif Kechiche, so much so that the filmmaker takes the time to set the mood for these student parties that last until dawn, and where you end up falling asleep drunk anywhere and anyhow.
But as the evening progresses, Tara's fantasies become disillusions, and nothing turns out the way she'd imagined. The depravity, easy sex and excessive alcohol make her sick, and she can't communicate with anyone. This progressive disillusionment is particularly evident in Manning Walker's direction, which gradually becomes suffocating, even terrifying. As the malaise sets in, both the character and the viewer realize the emptiness of what is being played out in front of them. Such is the trauma that speech becomes impossible. How to have Sex inevitably echoes the post #MeToo liberation of speech. The film subtly shows how Tara, played by the talented and angelic Mia McKenna-Bruce, is gradually trapped by her own silence, which prevents her from fully embracing her status as a victim of those nights of awful madness.
See also our interview with the director and her actress:
How to Have Sex, Grand Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes: our interview with the film crew
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