Sex-Positive

I happened upon this movie by pure chance.

At first it appeared to be just another soft core skin flick, but upon viewing it, I saw something that's rarely seen these days, a genuine satire of sexuality and popular culture. While not a cinematic masterpiece, its lightheartedness and unexpected moments make this an enjoyable adult comedy.

What really stands out is the film's breaking of the double standard when it comes to nudity in mainstream films. Both the female and male performers are depicted frankly and unashamedly without any form of exploitation. And this is in no way a porno film. The nudity is natural and unashamed, and the sex scenes, while explicit, are tastefully done. Its being unrated in a way gives the finger to the MPAA's hypocritical rating system where bloody violence gets a pass and displaying the human body is taboo.

There are a few awkward moments in the story, and scenes which some can find a bit much, but overall, Sex-Positive is a refreshingly funny take on contemporary mores and the current youth culture.

Just like the hit Barbie movie, which itself is really something like another spin on the classic The Little Mermaid, this movie uses the same basic formula of taking a fish out of water and puts her into a hyper-exaggerated sex fantasyland. In this case, it's a boarding house where nudity is the house rule and sex is the overriding theme. Like those other movies, Sex Positive also has several scenes confronting taboos and misconceptions and stereotypes about sex, human body, relationships, etc. Which some may not agree with and find controversial. So if you can tolerate that kind of silliness applied to an adult theme, as well as not take offense at seeing an enormous amount male and female nudity, you should find this film enjoyable!

This film is an independent based film and certainly feels like a parody attempt and homages to past sex comedies. The acting over all isn't great as many characters are very over the top and they try acting comical which mostly falls flat. This film feels more so like a soft core adult film but disguised as an art film. The nudity is in about every scene, however not all is in a sexual way. There are brief explicit scenes with many jumping back and forth. It certainly is more than expected as the actors seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The central plot regarding a young innocent girl being brought into this world and somehow stumbling into the house she stays in starts off decent but its plot is very thin and things start getting repetitive. We learn more about different characters and their motives but in the end, it ultimately feels pointless and without consequences. The film isn't entirely bad and the lead is decent to watch but also makes several questionable decisions which we question in the end. The humor is at times very cheesy and cringe with a lot of very forced sequences.

This film is funny and incisively critical about morality in American society. The premise is original and well executed.

I know some people are probably shocked by the amount of nudity in this film, but it is all appropriate and not lascivious at all.

The whole cast is very talented but star Katherine Ellis stands out. She is hilarious and a terrific, talented actress. She reminds me of funny women like Gilda Radner, Carol Burnett, or Lucille Ball. Hollywood you should be hiring this young lady for a higher profile film.

The film is available now on STARZ and hopefully more people see it and appreciate it. It should be a cult movie!

"Sex-Positive" is one of those movies that is so bad it borders on surrealism.

There are so many off-putting things about it, so many obstacles the filmmakers put up between you and any enjoyment or investment in their film, that you have to wonder if they aren't doing it on purpose.

Take the music, for example. It is constant and obtrusive and annoying. It's not used to underline dramatic moments in scenes like in a proper movie. Instead it detracts from what you're watching, to the point you sometimes can't hear dialogue because of it.

It doesn't help that the dialogue is also poorly recorded, often with a strange and distracting echo effect.

What is the movie about? The rather thin set-up involves our protagonist, a young woman, being dumped and finding herself in a house in which everyone is either naked or in a state of undress.

I guess it's supposed to be that she comes from a repressive, button-down society and begins to loosen up once surrounded by sexually liberated people, but this character arc is not depicted effectively.

The guy who takes our protagonist to this ethereal sex-house is apparently her love interest, but he doesn't even seem like he is interested in women, so you can't believe anything could ever happen between them.

It should have been a relatively simple matter to show our plucky and sassy protagonist loosening up, discovering sexuality and embracing it. Instead key moments happen off-screen, or aren't communicated to the audience effectively. For example, at first our protag is the only character who is uncomfortable with her nudity. She appears only in panties, but covers her nipples with her forearm, leading the audience to wonder if she's going to show anything. Well, she does, which should have been a key moment in her character's development, and a point of contact with the audience, acknowledging what they were no doubt wondering. Instead, the movie handles her eventual unveiling like it's nothing, like the filmmakers had no idea anyone in the audience would wonder about it.

The direction is also dull and pedestrian, keeping us at a distance from the characters like everything else in the movie does.

Trying to get into this movie, trying to make out the dialogue through the music, trying to find any spark of motivation, gave me a headache.

This could have been an unusually frank and disarming movie about sexuality, like the classic "Shortbus". There is a scene in which a man appears completely naked with three clothed women, who discuss what it might be like to have his anatomy, and ask him to jump up and down and run on the spot. This could have been key to the movie's themes about understanding sexuality and other people's bodies. Instead it's just a sad reminder of what this movie should have done. The cast were totally up for it. Why weren't the filmmakers?