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How to Have Sex earns its coming-of-age label by looking beyond a holiday’s promise of freedom to the sexual pressure, friendship, and uncertainty beneath it. Calling it “a perfect coming-of-age movie” is one critic’s verdict, not a consensus; the film’s lasting strength is that it lets exhilaration and discomfort sit side by side.
What is How to Have Sex about?
Molly Manning Walker’s 2023 feature debut follows three British teenage friends on a rites-of-passage holiday shaped by drinking, clubbing, and the hope of hooking up. What appears to be a carefree plan becomes a story about sexual expectations, consent, friendship, and the process of understanding an experience that does not fit the girls’ expectations.
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![How to Have Sex (2023) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41bYnSeIwtL._SL160_.jpg)
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How to Have Sex (2023) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ] | $44.98 | Buy on Amazon |
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Superbad Unrated | $14.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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What's Up, Doc? | $3.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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My Favorite Year | $3.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Casual Sex? | $14.99 | Buy on Amazon |
The film is not a how-to guide. Its focus is the distance between what the friends imagine the holiday will mean and what they are prepared to process. The British Film Institute describes it as a film about teenage friendship and learning about sex; the Cannes profile foregrounds the pressure on young people to have sex.
Why call it a coming-of-age movie?
Coming of age here is not a neat passage from innocence to certainty. The film attends to the social momentum around sex—the plans, excitement, and expectations—and to the harder work of making sense of discomfort. That makes its subject less a single rite of passage than the way friendship and self-understanding shift when an anticipated experience becomes difficult to name.
#1 Best Overall
- How to Have Sex (2023)
- How to Have Sex (2023)
Walker has explained the point of view she wanted to bring to the story. In a Festival de Cannes interview published May 19, 2023, she said, “I wanted to write something that looks at the pressure on young people to have sex.” She also said, “I wanted to make sure the film was told from the perspective of the girls and not judging them.” Those aims help explain why the film’s attention stays with the young women’s experience rather than turning them into cautionary examples.
How does the film handle its shifts in tone?
The party setting brings sensory energy: the holiday’s noise and momentum draw the audience into the protagonist’s immediate experience. The changes in tone matter because they make the gap between a night’s atmosphere and its aftermath felt rather than treating the holiday as a simple backdrop. MK2’s description points to the difficulty of processing assault and navigating consent, while critical responses have noted the film’s subtlety amid its loud colors, dialogue, and sound.
Rank #2
That approach also asks for care from viewers. The film’s consent themes are serious, and its emotional force does not depend on reducing what happens to a plot twist or treating fictional events as a legal case. Its unresolved quality is part of the coming-of-age portrait: understanding is not always immediate, and the film does not offer an easy emotional reset.
Is “a perfect coming-of-age movie” a fair verdict?
It is a persuasive critical response, but it belongs to an individual reviewer. In a review republished by MUBI on February 9, 2024, Oli Welsh wrote, “It’s a perfect coming-of-age movie.” MUBI’s critics archive also includes Peyton Robinson’s praise for its depiction of the drive and apprehension of sexual coming of age, and Tom Shone’s description of the film as subtle despite its volume and vividness. These are distinct judgments, not evidence of unanimous critical agreement.
Rank #3
The word “perfect” is most convincing as a statement about the film’s fit between form and subject: its party energy and abrupt tonal turns bring viewers close to a young person’s unsettled experience. It is less useful if it suggests a comforting or fully resolved story. Viewers looking for a coming-of-age film willing to leave difficult feelings in place are more likely to find the phrase apt than those expecting a tidy lesson.
What awards and release context matter?
The Cannes profile records the film’s 2023 Un Certain Regard context and prize; MUBI also describes it as a Cannes prizewinner. That recognition helps explain the attention the film received, but it does not settle whether its approach works for an individual viewer.
Rank #4
MUBI announced in January 2024 that the film would stream in the UK, Turkey, and Latin America from December 29, 2023, and listed its US theatrical release as February 2, 2024. Availability can change by country and over time. A US availability tracker checked October 7, 2026 reported streaming, rental, purchase, and Blu-ray options, but readers should check their own country’s current listings rather than assume a particular service carries it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you watch or buy it?
A 2024 MUBI and Schools Consent Project announcement said the film was available to rent and buy on digital platforms, Blu-ray, and DVD. The announcement also documented UK school screenings followed by lawyer-led consent workshops; it establishes that partnership at the time, not that workshops or the same offers are currently available.
Best Value
A retailer listing documents an English-language UK DVD edition. That does not establish current stock, US disc availability, or whether a particular disc will play on a reader’s equipment. Before buying a physical copy, confirm the edition, language and subtitles, region compatibility, and current availability with the seller.
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