Wondering if Yes, God, Yes is OK for your kids? Mostly, though, those retreats were a hotbed of teenage romance! Amusing (if dated) teen comedy with sex talk, acts, chats. Sometimes it feels like the film wants to go even harder at Catholicism than it does, but it holds back as if aware that it will offend. We display the minimum age for which content is developmentally appropriate. Cast: Natalia Dyer, Timothy Simons, Wolfgang Novogratz, Francesca Reale, Susan Blackwell, Parker Wierling, ?Alisha Boe, Donna Lynne Champlin How Technology Is Reshaping Democracy and Our Lives, Participate in DigCit Week with your kid by using curated activities from Wide Open School, Online Playdates, Game Nights, and Other Ways to Socialize at a Distance, Keeping Kids Motivated for Online Learning, Set limits for violence and more with Plus. Totally unacceptable to use the Catholic faith and its culture of raising teenagers in a mocking fashion of humor. EMAIL ME. Language is occasionally strong or insulting ("s--t," "slut," "perv," "a--hole," etc. Alice is so innocent that when faced with a rumor about the sexual act she supposedly performed at a party, she has to ask her best friend what the term even means. Is the idea of a "bad reputation" still relevant? Thank you for your support. An AOL chat room leads Alice (Stranger Things' Natalia Dyer) to discover what it feels like to get turned on for the first time, and unlike in countless other tales about teen girls, her sexual satisfaction comes not from sleeping with someone, but from self-pleasure. Also explores how young women are chastised for sexual experiences while young men are praised. Devout followers of Catholicism, however, will probably bristle much of the way through as the pic just stops short of being a full-on mockumentary of the Catholic Church. Fearful of going to hell, she signs up for a four-day spiritual retreat, hosted by the school. Moments like these add up to something powerful, and that is a feat in a movie whose subject matter could have easily made for disaffected navel gazing. What does it mean to be "sex positive"? Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Music: Ian Hultquist Good news: you’re not.”. Costume designer: Brittany Loar “Yes, God, Yes,” written and directed by Karen Maine, is a refreshing anomaly: a coming-of-age masturbation comedy about a teenage girl. Unlike one of its filmic peers, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, Catholicism and the mostly hypocritical Catholics in the movie are the butt of nearly every joke. Many of today's high schoolers are more progressive and understanding regarding everything from gender identity and expression to sexual orientation to women's rights, so it's unclear who the ideal audience is for Yes, God, Yes. Her desires to crush her impure urges fly out the window the second she arrives at the retreat and gets a look at a teenage hunk named Chris (Wolfgang Novogratz). Writer-director Karen Maine -- who based the film partially on her own experiences -- depicts Alice's struggles as a commentary on the Catholic church's focus on abstinence until marriage, as well as the general sexism involved in high school sexual politics (Alice is shamed for purportedly doing something amoral and "vixenish" with a guy at a party).