Warning: some spoilers!
The new R-rated comedy, Blockers, is about 3 high school seniors who make a pact to have sex with their dates on prom night. Their parents find out and try to stop their daughters. Based on the plot summary and the ads everywhere for this movie, it sounds pretty weird and sexist. How many raunchy, high school movies about boys trying to have sex have we seen? Then a movie comes out that’s about girls wanting to have sex and the parents are on a mission to stop them? It’s not fair. So why did I see this movie if I’m already under the impression that I’ll be offended? Well, I saw some headlines about Blockers having a surprising message and sex positive, but of course I was skeptical because I didn’t see that from any trailer. So I was still not convinced. Then Friday night date night came along and the movie were intended to see was sold out and we settled for Blockers.
I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum because I really want people to see this movie, but there are some things I think people should get excited for.
One thing we learn that is not advertised is that one of the girls is in the closet and has a crush on a classmate. What I love about this subplot is that audiences don’t see this story often and the movie does not sexualize these young women that we’ve seen in other movies.
What’s really important about this movie is that it’s aware of a sexist double standard of what it means for women to have sex vs what men have sex. I was happy to see the film points out a double standard early on. And it’s brought up multiple times by male and female characters. I was excited to see that when one of the fathers (Ike Barinholtz’s character) and one of the mothers (Sarayu Rao’s character) mentions this, it’s taken seriously. They’re not made into the joke of a “crazy feminist.” While they are funny scenes, the calling out of sexism is not the joke.
There’s a part in the movie where the girls enter the prom and start dancing, just the three of them, to Hailee Steinfeld’s Love Myself, and I got a little emotional in theatre. I never really saw stuff like that in a movie growing up and I was thinking about the teenage girls who might see this movie and feel seen and accepted.
I will not reveal how the film ends because I highly recommend seeing Blockers, but I think you’ll be happy with the ending.
Do I believe the commercials that this is the “female Superbad”? Honestly, no, I personally see these as two completely different movies. But it’s a hilarious and fun female coming of age. I think this is an important movie for people to see, especially for young women. It has the message that you’re okay no matter what. It’s okay to be ready to have sex and it’s okay to not be ready. It’s okay to be gay, it’s okay to embrace female sexuality, and it’s okay to be a young woman growing up.