Release Date – 3rd November 2023, Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 31 minutes, Director – Molly Manning Walker
Sex, drink and partying are on the menu for three best friends (Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Enva Lewis) celebrating the end of school with a foreign holiday, however the shine is very quickly worn off for Tara.
There are multiple false senses of relief and security within writer-director Molly Manning Walker’s feature debut. Even the opening ten minutes provides something of a false sense of what’s to come as best friends Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Lara Peake) and Em (Enva Lewis) literally dive straight into their week long foreign holiday to celebrate the end of school and their exams being over (if the threat of retakes doesn’t rear its head). Sex, drink and partying are on the menu – there’s a prize for who can get laid the most in addition to being allowed the main room in the hotel.
Tara is intent on finally losing her virginity while away. Not letting the comments of a beer-chug race leader – “no boy’s ever going to be happy with you” – get her down, especially in the face of getting to know the group in the room next door. Badger (Shaun Thomas), Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) and Paige (Laura Ambler) may be a couple of years older, but as fellow British partiers they soon form something of a double-unit with the central trio. As they see more of each other tensions begin to rise, particularly for Tara in her relationship to the increasingly obnoxious Paddy, and the thought of potentially struggling with three loud, screaming characters for 90 minutes soon fades away.
An air of nervousness makes its way into the frame. McKenna-Bruce captures it wonderfully with an increasingly quiet performance with plenty of subtle effect in the way Tara seems uncertain of what to say or do in certain situations and in others purely rejecting advances. It’s a nervousness which perfectly allows for an instant shift into pure tension after a confirmation into the final stages of the film. Even more so after earlier on experiencing a blanket of genuine warmth and comfort amongst friendly strangers after a hesitant and concerning night at the clubs.
One way in which the tonal shifts are dealt with is by diminishing the laughs throughout. There may only be one or two here and there in a generally naturalistic style, but even by reeling these back Manning Walker is able to make her points with a good deal of potent drama. It all mixes into an excellently performed and handled final scene or two which round everything off to allow for the themes and drama to echo with you for some time afterwards.
One particular lingering shot of Tara in a taxi, the camera and fading music threatening to leave the moment there almost as if about to cut to credits at any frame, is time given for everything so far to sink in for the moment. Will there be resolution? Is there resolution? Can there be any? Like Tara, we’re faintly hoping yet doubtful. Where the film takes us provides something and it’s sure to linger and cause thought afterwards.
Excellently shifting from nervousness to tension How To Have Sex is led by a strong lead performance from Mia McKenna-Bruce whose increasing quietness conveys so many of Molly Manning Walker’s themes and subtle ideas throughout.
Just A Little Bit Random 