SLUT IN A GOOD WAY: So Much More Than Another Teen Movie

Slut in a Good Way, a Quebecois coming-of-age film from director Sophie Lorain and writer Catherine Léger, is a rare thing: a sex-positive comedy about teenage girls. It also happens to be spectacular. Shot in simple black-and-white with a carefree, low-budget vibe reminiscent of independent film touchstones like Kevin Smith’s Clerks, the film chronicles the misadventures of a young woman who becomes embarrassed after her sexual shenanigans go public at the toy store where she works, and does so with equal parts sensitivity and sass.

Girls and Boys

Charlotte (Marguerite Bouchard) has been going to great lengths to have a proper sexual experience with her long-time boyfriend, including gleaning tips from pornographic videos and buying sexy lingerie. However, when her latest effort also goes awry, her boyfriend finally breaks the news: he’s gay.

At first, Charlotte isn’t willing to let his attraction to men get in the way of true love; after all, how important is sex anyway? But that all changes when she and her two best friends, free-spirited anti-capitalist Megane (Romane Denis) and shy romantic Aube (Rose Adam), drunkenly stumble into a local toy store and realize how many attractive young men work there.

The three girls promptly sign on to work at the store for the holiday season and began various forms of flirtation with their coworkers. In Charlotte’s case, that means healing her broken heart by sleeping with as many of them as possible and forming no emotional attachments whatsoever. However, her fun ends when she realizes that everyone at the store has been gossiping about her sexual escapades – and not in a good way.

Furious at the double standards that girls are held to when it comes to sex – labeled as so-called sluts for having several sexual partners while boys are applauded for their conquests – Charlotte attempts to unite the girls at the store in a celibacy pact for charity. But it turns out, swearing off boys can be just as complicated as sleeping with them, especially when Charlotte develops chemistry with one of her coworkers that goes beyond just sexual attraction.

This is Our Youth

Slut in a Good Way features two early scenes between its trio of leads that perfectly set up the close-knit bonds that unite these three very different girls and are rich with the hormone-driven angst that defines so much of our teenage years. The first involves Megane and Aube accompanying Charlotte on her quest to buy lingerie that will hopefully properly excite her boyfriend, where the three of them dissolve into laughter over the toys for sale and argue over each other’s degrees of sexual experience. The second takes place in a park after Charlotte’s boyfriend comes out to her; the three girls pound cheap beer and drunkenly stagger around the playground in an attempt to comfort Charlotte before the cops pull up and the girls flee, giggling and shrieking.

It’s safe to say that almost every teenager has had experiences similar to these when hanging out with their friends, which makes the humor and the heartbreak inherent in these scenes hit incredibly close to home. And while those might be the best examples of how Slut in a Good Way nails the teenage experience in a way that few other coming-of-age films ever have, they aren’t the only ones.

The black-and-white cinematography from Alexis Durand-Brault – an interesting choice for this kind of comedy, but one that feels utterly natural as you’re watching it – gives Slut in a Good Way the intimate vibe of old home movies, while the dialogue in Léger’s script nails the proper balance between whip-smart and natural naivety. The teens of Slut in a Good Way are indeed hilariously clever, but not to the degree of being unbelievable and unrelatable. It helps that the film’s ensemble cast is appropriately young, incredibly talented, and refreshingly real.

The main characters of Slut in a Good Way look like any teenagers you’d see pushing past you on the sidewalk to get on the bus or ringing up your groceries at the local store; there are no pouty-lipped, glossy-haired Disney starlets to be found among them. As Charlotte, Bouchard is the quintessential everygirl, someone who strives for conventionality until she realized that asserting her own needs and desires is what makes her truly happy, other people’s opinions be damned. Denis embodies the anarchy inherent in Megane in a way that is hilarious when it could have been annoying. And Adam makes the awkward, virginal Aube sympathetic without being a soppy cliche.

Despite their differences – or perhaps because of them – the audience is never in doubt of how deep the bonds of friendship run between these three girls; their scenes together contain the casual chemistry that comes with knowing everything there is to know about something since what seems like the beginning of time. They bring three contrasting perspectives to the film’s exploration of teenage relationships, ensuring that any audience member will find someone to whom they can relate on screen. It’s impossible to come away from Slut in a Good Way not feeling inspired by their journeys – and simultaneously laughing yourself silly, of course.

Slut in a Good Way: Conclusion

That the original French title of Slut in a Good Way translates to Charlotte Has Fun tells you everything you need to know about this sharp little film. It’s an unapologetic celebration of first love, first heartbreak, and everything else that comes with being a teenage girl.

What do you think? Does Slut in a Good Way sound like a refreshing take on the standard coming-of-age tale? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Slut in a Good Way is released in the U.S. on March 29, 2019. You can find more international release dates here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBnQwvgs-IY