‘How to Have Sex’ teaches you how to talk about sex in cinema from the perspective of young women [SPOILER]

How to Have Sex It demonstrates very well the limbo faced by teenagers as they leave school and prepare for whatever comes next. In the debut film of Molly Manning WalkerTara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Lara Peake) is at (Enva Lewis), three young British women who are experiencing this period of uncertainty, take a trip to Greece.

One of the goals for girls to accomplish during vacation involves sex. Tara receives support from her friends to lose her virginity. From the beginning of the film, which takes a while to give clues about what it’s really about, the character is unable to disguise the discomfort caused by her rush to leave the virgins’ club.

The group of friends ends up joining other young people, with whom they attend parties at the resort. While Skye seems interested in Paddy (Samuel Bottomley), Tara gets along well with Badger (Shaun Thomas), and Em begins a summer romance with Paige (Laura Ambler). Yet, unexpectedly, Tara ends the night at Paddy’s side.

As dawn breaks, everyone realizes that Tara has disappeared. At that moment, any spectator thinks the worst. To give propulsion to the terrible hypothesis, the feature film takes the narrative to the previous night, referring to the trauma caused by Irreversible (2002), for example, of the dubious Gaspar Noé – nor Rosemary’s Baby (1968) escapes the theme.

Tara’s dawn

Tara guaranteed her sex. If many women still wonder if it is possible to reach orgasm during sexual intercourse with a man, it is no surprise that many identify with the grotesque, and fortunately quick, scene that shows the character losing her virginity.

Completely ignored by the boy who, before sex, made her feel like the most interesting girl in the world, Tara decides to take her disappointment far away from Paddy after that intimate moment. The air continues to smell of danger, until she finds a group she seems to genuinely have fun with.

When the sun is back, the character accompanies her new friends to the room where they are staying, but decides to face the daylight and sleep by the pool. That hostile atmosphere is returned to those who watch, as the vulnerability to which she unknowingly exposes herself is uncomfortable.

Until then, Manning Walker delivers suspense and agony, but ultimately comforts the audience when Tara returns to Skye and Em. With some envy and an attitude of superiority, Skye ignores the situation and attributes her friend’s absence to the discovery of sex. Em, on the other hand, sees something wrong with Tara’s behavior and gives her space.

Close to Paddy, Badger gains Tara’s trust and notices his friend’s abuse, but doesn’t get involved. In her own bed in the room, just a few meters away from everyone, she wakes up from a nap being raped. It is inevitable not to associate the situation with a problematic section of the track “Campo de Morangos”, by Luisa Sonza: “I woke up, you were calling me / I was standing aside and you were calling me.” Maybe, this way, those who don’t understand will be able to understand.

Farewell

Tara seems like a balloon stretched to the maximum, which continues to be filled with anguish, about to be burst. Em and Skye, ready to enter university, leave Greece very close, while Em’s character McKenna-Bruce He ends his vacation as a victim of a crime and with the same uncertainties as at the beginning of the feature film.

Observant, Em manages to get the story of the trauma out of Tara. She blames herself for not realizing everything sooner, and Tara blames herself for not being more transparent. At this point, she realizes how the director doesn’t try to prevent the public from blaming the victim. It’s absurd, most people know. But, looking from the outside, we still think about how we would do it differently and make one of the most frightening situations for women an impossibility.

Molly offers a simple outcome for How to Have Sex, which shows Tara able to forgive herself for the blame she attributed to herself for a rape. Still, the film is powerful — largely thanks to the performance of MiaMcKenna-Brucewhich handles the camera so close to its emotions well — because it is believable, moving and familiar.

Now, finally mentioning a composition that deserves to be heard: the credits rise to the sound of “Strong”, a partnership between Romyof The xxIt is Fred again…which was included on the artist’s most recent album, Mid Air. “You’ve been so strong for so long / You’ve learned to carry this alone / Let me be someone / You can lean on,” one excerpt reads. “You don’t need to be so strong.”