Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday – drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives.

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature is a powerful piece of work that explores the experiences of three teenage girls as they go on their first summer holiday together to the party resort of Malia on the Greek island of Crete. It is both a celebration of youth and female friendship, as well as a cautionary tale that delicately explores the culture of sex and consent through the character of Tara, played by Mia Mckenna-Bruce in a star making turn.

The summer holiday without your parents is seen as a rite of passage in the UK and in many parts of Europe, with every summer seeing hordes of teenagers and 20-somethings heading off to somewhere hot alongside their friends with the aim of drinking, clubbing and hooking up. ‘How to Have Sex’ is particularly great because it doesn’t denigrate the joy that experience can bring, but it also doesn’t shy away from the darker side which is explored sensitively here. This is no ‘Kevin and Perry Go Large‘ or ‘The Inbetweeners Movie‘.

We learn early on that Tara is the only virgin of the three girls, and she is keen to use this holiday to ‘catch up’ with her friends – not helped by the pressure she’s put under by Skye (Lara Peake) in particular. When they meet a couple of Northern boys who are staying in an apartment close to theirs, they end up spending more time together and Tara starts to develop an interest in one of them, Badger (Shaun Thomas). The film initially plays out as fun and light before it takes a crushing turn when Tara gets separated from the group, and the second half of the film becomes something else entirely. It is to Manning Walker’s credit that this tonal shift works as well as it does, with humour and a celebration of female friendship sitting alongside an exploration of sexual consent and the implications a bad experience can have on someone.

‘How to Have Sex’ is a remarkably assured debut feature from Molly Manning Walker that authentically captures the experience of these types of holidays, with a sharp edge that poses important questions for anyone watching – whether you’re a similar age to the characters or much older. Out on MUBI now and a film well worth seeking out.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Molly Manning Walker

Starring: Mia Mckenna-Bruce, Shaun Thomas, Laura Peake, Enva Lewis, Samuel Bottomley, Laura Ambler, Eilidh Loan and Daisy Jelley

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt22890246/