Everyone associates the Cannes Film Festival with its top prize, the Palme d’Or, arguably the most prestigious award on the annual festival circuit. But Cannes’ Un Certain Regard prize is just as sought after by young filmmakers: a prize that provides a daring and innovative film the chance for distribution in French cinemas and a sign of a director to watch on the international front. Past winners include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Hong Sang-soo, among others. But Molly Manning Walker won Un Certain Regard this year for her debut film “How To Have Sex,” which finally arrives in US theaters next February.
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And before its theatrical release, Walker’s feature debut gets a special spotlight at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. “How To Have Sex” follows three British teenage girls on a Greek holiday determined to have the best summer ever, even at the cost of their innocence.
Here’s an official synopsis for “How To Have Sex,” courtesy of MUBI:
It’s supposed to be the best summer ever. Tara, Skye and Em touch down on the Greek party resort of Malia for the vacation to end all vacations, the girls trip every British teenager ticks off at the cusp of adulthood. Tara, the last remaining virgin, is on a mission to change that: and her best friends are causing chaos right alongside her. The 16-year-old drinks and dances her way through the strip – with all its messy bars and grimy nightclubs – until she meets a couple of boys on the neighboring hotel balcony who she hopes might give her a summer to remember.
Making her debut feature with a vibrant, compassionate look at sex, friendship, consent, and the sweet smell of a boozy sunburned summer holiday, director and cinematographer Molly Manning Walker paints an exhilarating, moving, and painfully familiar portrait of young adulthood.
“How To Have Sex” stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, Samuel Bottomley, Enva Lewis, and Laura Ambler. Walker pens the film’s script along with directing.
UK critics loved Walker’s debut out of Cannes, and the film continues to do well critically after it hit UK theaters on November 3. Now it’s time to see how “How To Have Sex” does across the pond. After the movie screens at Sundance in January, it hits US theaters on February 2, and streams exclusively on MUBI afterward. Watch a trailer for “How To Have Sex” below.