Legendary Scottish comedian Billy Connolly once described Catholic School like ‘A-Level guilt’ – and for teenage geek Alice, the perils of reading too much into what God wants and where Jesus walks in honour are a little too much in the new coming-of-age comedy drama YES, GOD, YES.
Set at a time when the Internet and Social Media was in its’ infancy. YES, GOD, YES shows us the world of a Middle America Catholic School, presided over by a head priest who likens the difference between men and women when they are aroused as like two versions of the same oven and a matriarch of a Principal who gives out discipline slips like condoms on a virginal night – and for poor Alice, the definition of ‘salad tossing’ (defined to the audience in the opening captions) yields all kinds of connotations.
The answer to the problems seems to be in a Catholic weekend retreat, where teenagers in the faith can face up to their issues on all fronts and Alice happily joins the exodus to discover where her true feelings lie. However, an incident at a party just before has been exaggerated by her classmates, leading Alice to question her faith and her place in the world….
Written and directed by Karen Maine and semi-autobiographical in origin, YES, GOD, YES is a tender and refreshingly different version of the coming-of-age and sexual awakening we have seen in many of the more cruder comedies like AMERICAN PIE and PORKY’S, but also refreshing because it does tap into how teenagers really feel and think about sex, inevitably allowing for some rather embarrassing moments of revelation.
Part of the charm is down to lead Natalia Dyer, whose mix of vulnerable fascination with the sins of the flesh manifest themselves constantly throughout in a performance that echoes the young Winona Ryder in MERMAIDS when she played Cher’s daughter. That is a nice comparison, but it is not doing justice to Dyer, who has her own bright future ahead.
YES, GOD, YES has much to appeal to teenagers and should provide some enlightenment and respite from the evident pressures that everyone feels when they hit the teen years. Milne certainly shows a unique perspective – and no doubt will reveal much promise in her future work.
YES, GOD, YES is available now on the following platforms:
Tunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Sky Store, Virgin Media, Rakuten
