How to Have Sex

This really snuck up on me. At first I thought it was going to be just another movie about a group of girl friends partying on vacation, but the drunk acting was really fantastic, and the lead especially gave so much with the slightest expression. I really hated her one friend, but I liked Em and I thought both girls were great actors. I got really anxious as her night progressed, and as hard as it was to watch, I thought I was going to get through this movie without any tears. But then the end at the airport happened, and my heart just broke for this girl who just wanted to lose her virginity and have a good time with her friends. I haven't cried like I did at the end of this movie in a long time, I have a lot of my own healing to do, and this movie was a sneaky gut punch. Hoping to see Mia McKenna-Bruce in a lot more to come

This is a really powerful film that tackles some tough themes like trauma, sexual consent, and peer pressure. It's about Tara, a 16-year-old girl who’s on summer vacation with her two friends. The throbbing sound design pulses through the party scenes, and the fly on the wall camera work makes you feel like you're right there with the characters. Mia McKenna-Bruce is phenomenal as Tara, and her performance really makes the story impactful. Her portrayal of the second guessing and self doubt that can follow traumatic experiences is especially powerful. Her friend Skye's constant "I'm just kidding" and jealousy was annoying…it felt like a really accurate but infuriating portrayal of a certain self absorbed type of friend, which adds another layer to Tara’s experience on this trip. The ending however felt lazy and it missed a chance to really land a punch, which was a shame given how strong the rest of the movie was.

Sobering, harrowing, sharp; How To Have Sex pulls back the curtain on the much glamourised coming-of-age drinking holidays that permiate teenage British drinking culture, and reveals the cold, isolating and downright depressing reality that comes after the loud music and copious amounts of alcohol. The death of childhood and innocence, the split in friend groups as life paths are chosen and become more defined, the rush to grow up and complete milestones by societal predefined times, the unspoken trauma of our first sexual encounters that are brushed off due to intoxication and expectation; it's all shown so realistically and relatably that it's shocking we all have similar experiences yet nothing seems to change or improve. A modern tragedy, and a very important one at that.

It notably shows the impulse of youth, but also the need to fit into a society that pushes towards the most superficial representations of personal satisfaction. The third act is downright disturbing, and the way the camera zooms in on Tara's face is more expressive than any explanatory dialogue. It is an intelligent film that knows how to set the pace and develop events in such a way that there is always a certain suspense due to what has happened or what is about to happen. Concern is built from the apparent normality.

Very realistic portrayal of what some women have to deal with in their lives. This film tackles a lot of ideas and I think it's all done very well.

I've not had sex yet and that's not how you do it.
Wow, a silently powerful performance from Mia McKenna-Bruce and the rest of the cast is good. Molly Manning Walker with a great debut filled with authentic performances and a beautiful shot film.

Excellent film that deals with delicate themes and does so in a very sensitive way. Fresh direction that keeps you glued to the screen, it focuses a lot on the glances between the characters and on what is left unsaid. It is not as banal as it might seem and manages to stage the problems that the carelessness and naivety of young people can bring

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Like a library book: it has an interesting story and it's well told but it's neither unique or new.

This film of three British female friends on spring break in Greece is a technical success helped by a cast who can play drunk better than anyone in recent memory. The film will be a big hit with those who want to relive their party days from University.

Sadly, How to Have Sex limits itself to one (very important) theme that it chooses to treat in a perfunctory manner, rather than try to encompass the larger experience of a young woman's sexual coming-of-age.

(How to Have Sex won the Grand Prize in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.)

PS I still wish young directors (and more experienced ones, too) would create **new** stories rather than regularly returning to the well of autobiography, which isn't as interesting as they seem to believe.

A pretty good depiction of the excesses happening when young Britts party on holiday. The sex part of the story is though not very realistic. First, that very cute girl that age is still a Virgin and then that she gets depressed when she is no more. That is not how this usually works at these party locations which that much alcohol and drugs.