How to Have Sex
Energetic but also wry drama about three 16-year-old friends who go on a sun, booze and sex holiday in Malia after a long school year. Debutant Molly Manning Walker shows how complex the concept of ‘consent’ is.
Every year, many young people flock to Malia to have their first sexual experiences. So do besties Zara, Em and Skye, who are on holiday without their parents for the first time. It should be the holiday of a lifetime. Drinking, partying and maybe sex. Babyface Tara feels pressured by her friends to have sex, because she is the only one of the bunch still a virgin: if she doesn’t succeed here, she never will.
Molly Manning Walker based the story on a disturbing memory of a childhood holiday. The story is often painful and relatable. Where does consent end and coercion begin? Interspersed with buzzing party images, it is the silent and wordless scenes that have the biggest impact. Manning Walker received the ‘Un Certain Regard’ award for her impressive debut at the Cannes Film Festival. New talent Mia McKenna-Bruce, as Tara, is already being compared to Florence Pugh (ek)