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| Mubi |
Molly Manning Walker's debut feature film, How to Have Sex, explores the concept of sexual consent and the "gap in understanding" about sexual assault. The film follows three female teens who head to a party town in Crete to celebrate the end of their GCSEs. However, there is a dark underbelly to this tale of self-discovery as the trio navigate sex and consent.
Persuasion actress Mia McKenna-Bruce takes the leading role as Tara, who is self-conscious about still being a virgin and finds herself in uncharted territory on a night out. The idea for the story came from a "formative memory" she had of seeing a man being given oral sex on stage during a bar crawl on a holiday she went on as a teenager. Manning Walker and her team spent time in Malia doing research and engaging with real life and what was going on.
Tara finds herself in two dangerous situations, with one of the lads from the group staying in the apartment next door. Manning Walker believes that every woman has been sexually assaulted, and not every man would claim to have had that experience or to have been a perpetrator. He believes that the film should open the conversation to allow men and women to discuss what is going on.
The film focuses on not just the perpetrator, Paddy (Samuel Bottomley), but also his mate, Badger (Shaun Thomas), who develops a genuine friendship with Tara. Manning Walker wanted men to recognise themselves in the characters and encourage them to care for others and make kindness more forefront in their lives.
However, the film tackles a serious subject, with powerful shifts in tone, light and dark, fun and fear, pure joy and intense despair. The director emphasises that sexual assault can happen anywhere, not just on hedonistic group trips abroad.
McKenna-Bruce's performance of Tara was a challenge, but she credits the camaraderie of the close-knit cast and crew, fostered by Manning Walker, for her authentic performance. The set was super-supportive and safe from the get-go, and an intimacy coordinator was employed to protect and guide actors in filming intimate scenes.
The film How to Have Sex tackles issues such as toxic female friendship and peer pressure, with the inclusion of intimacy coordinators and stunt coordinators. Manning Walker, the director, believes that more should be done to teach consent in secondary schools, as it is binary and law-based. The Schools Consent Project sends lawyers into schools to teach support to 11 to 18-year-olds, encouraging audiences to scrutinise what consent looks and feels like, what a violation is, how to articulate that, and what to do when other factors are involved, such as alcohol, drugs, and peer pressure.
Founder Kate Parker believes films like How to Have Sex are essential in bringing these conversations to a broader audience. Daniel Guinness of Beyond Equality, a charity that helps boys and men rethink masculinity to empower them, emphasises the importance for men to understand their right to give or not give consent to things. He also highlights the need for men and boys to be aware of the need to check in with any partner they have.
While controversial influencers like Andrew Tate have made conversations around consent more difficult for young people, McKenna-Ball is glad that women's voices are being heard. She believes that the presence of representatives like Molly's in the industry is moving forward, and while there is still much work to be done, there is movement and light at the end of the tunnel.
