How To Have Sex: NZIFF Review

Director Molly Manning Walker's shocking debut mixes up teen hedonism, plenty of booze and stirs up much debate with its storyline.

But central to all of it is an absolutely stunning performance by Mia McKenna-Bruce as Tara, a girl whose life changes forever on what should be the "best holiday ever."

The story follows a trio of BFFs (McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake and Enva Lewis) as they head abroad on their first-ever unaccompanied holiday. Striking up a partying relationship with the boys in an apartment near theirs, everything seems to be going swimmingly - until it's not.

While How To Have Sex is at heart a cautionary tale, there's also a resounding sense of hope in the film as well - and most of that is due to McKenna-Bruce's acting. Simple adjustments of mood and reactions for her Tara add much to the movie where exploitation would have ruined it.

Walker's use of the mundanities of the partying life (the girls obsess over getting chips) sits alongside the worries of impending exam results, the peer pressures from friends and the obligatory push to grow up. Peake also deserves credit for her chilling portrayal of a friend who swings violently and quickly from compassion to burning jealousy on the turn of a dime.

There may be improvisational elements at work here, but most of what plays out follows a familiar (and somewhat depressing) route - but not once does Walker ever turn her characters into caricatures or victims, preferring instead to instil nuance in the relationships in the fallout.

Subtlety is the key here, despite the neon-drenched clothing, the excesses and the relentless partying. Consent issues have been tackled many-a time, but with this, Walker extends care and compassion into a depressingly familiar message - and as a result, churns out something powerful and important for the younger generations to both identify with and work on.