The Grand Illusion

Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, HOW TO HAVE SEX is a vibrant and authentic depiction of the agonies, ecstasies and ride-or-die glory of young female friendship, from rising British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker. 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. As they dance their way across the sun-drenched streets of Malia, they find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery. Captured with luminous visuals and a pitch-perfect soundtrack, Manning Walker’s directorial debut paints a painfully familiar portrait of young adulthood, and how first sexual experiences should – or shouldn’t – play out.

“Avoids simple didacticism with Walker’s kinetic direction and appealing performances, particularly from lead Mia McKenna-Bruce, whose pain is easily shared.” Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“This is fresh, passionate, and remarkably assured filmmaking, made with ample energy and even more exhilarating clarity of vision.” Isaac Feldberg, RogerEbert.com

“In its frankness and often frightening candor, How to Have Sex is of a piece with coming-of-age dramas like Thirteen and The Diary of a Teenage Girl, with a dash of the lascivious, neon-colored bacchanalia of Spring Breakers thrown in for good measure.” Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post