How to Have Sex

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How to Have Sex

2024

1h 38m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

148 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

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.

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Critics Consensus

A powerful debut for Molly Manning Walker, How to Have Sex authentically captures female adolescence and friendship with sobering effervescence.

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Wenlei Ma

The Nightly (AU)

03/10/2024

3.5/5

It’s naturalistic, thoughtful, and deeply, deeply uncomfortable because there are familiar behaviours that almost anyone will remember from their own adolescence — and wish they could forget.

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Geordie Gray

The Australian

02/24/2024

3.5/5

This film marks Molly Manning Walker as a director to watch.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

02/15/2024

3.5/4

Walker realizes this is risky material but she avoids sensationalism in charting Tara’s treacherous journey, one that requires lead McKenna-Bryce to crawl into tough emotional spaces.

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Maxance Vincent

Movies We Texted About

Jan 6

4.5/5

[Mia McKenna Bruce's] performance slowly devastates you until the final scene at an airport, which releases the tension meticulously built in an incredibly cathartic way.

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Rohan Naahar

The Indian Express

07/28/2025

A disturbing companion piece to Netflix's Adolescence; director Molly Manning Walker's coming-of-age film will be particularly satisfying to anybody who felt that the show was neglectful of the victim's experience.

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Samantha Schuster

Cinéfilo Serial

07/25/2025

4/5

With a great performance by McKenna-Bruce and an interesting perspective from its director, as well as the atmosphere she manages to create, How to Have Sex is an intense, surprising, and necessary coming-of-age story. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Ghederick Eshmont

02/04/2024

The film’s brilliance is evident in its nuance & what’s left unsaid by Tara. Molly Manning-Walker’s debut is exceptional.

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Nic B

@babyboy1 5d

It's ok to watch I guess

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Vitor A

@RT78519417 Jul 21

Poor movie. It's depressing and shows how the 21st-century generation is messed up. But the movie doesn't show anything clear, just a confusing story with not-so-great action.

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Sally T

@RT35755808 May 25

Takes me back to being that age. Superb acting. A serious subject matter but it’s not preachy. Just kinda portrays it for what it is.

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Fleur V

@Fleurtjuh02 May 1

It was unfortunatly so real and even though i felt uncomfortable i also Felt like it is something we all go through as teens and feels so retable. The acting was phenomanal.

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Sharang L

@Scribe187 Apr 18

You realise you are watching something deeper than what you had expected. The lead actress is phenomenal. It's a teen drama but certainly not frivolous.

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Molly Manning Walker

Director

Mia McKenna-Bruce

Tara

Samuel Bottomley

Paddy

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Skye

Shaun Thomas

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Synopsis

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.

Director: Molly Manning Walker
Producer: Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Emily Leo, Ivana Mackinnon
Screenwriter: Molly Manning Walker, Molly Manning Walker
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: British Film Institute, Heretic, Film4
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $177.4K
Runtime: 1h 38m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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