Review: Y.P.F.–Young People Fucking (2008)

Directed by: Martin Gero | 91 minutes | comedy | Actors: Diora Baird, Callum Blue, Carly Pope, Aaron Abrams, Kristin Booth, Josh Dean, Sonja Bennett, Josh Cooke, Peter Oldring, Ennis Esmer

Funny? Yes. But are we learning anything about sex that we didn’t know yet? No. “Young People Fucking” will probably not dazzle or dazzle the Dutch public. In America, director Martin Gero will perhaps cause more controversy with this very civilized, light-hearted film about how sex is not, but above all, is possible.

The different couples that are introduced to us appear very natural and seem completely at ease with each other. This makes it pleasant to watch. There is a pleasant tension within the couples that you let them live with and make them believe. The necessary dose of humor is also present and puts into perspective the situations in which you can end up when you are dealing with the phenomenon of “sex”.

It’s interesting that the couples all have different views on each other and this affects their sex life in a way. Even though the couple who are boyfriend and girlfriend in particular seem very clichéd, the message is clear: experiment! Enjoy! Look beyond your bedroom door!

“Y.P.F.” remains quite simple because we only switch back and forth between the couples and will not discover any further connections or storylines. This is nice in itself, after all, it is largely about the sex in this movie, but it can get boring. A little free spirit seeing “Y.P.F.” will wonder if it was really necessary to make a movie about this. However, we must be careful not to lose sight of the people for whom making love is not all self-explanatory.

Indeed, “Y.P.F.” does not seem to be very innovative with the amount of pornography that we have lying around in the Netherlands in mind. Maybe Gero wanted to reach a specific target group. For example, the young people who are still going to have sex, or probably the American public that still falls from their seat when they see a strap-on dildo.

The fact that the filming was done with a certain tact becomes clear when we observe while watching that at least two out of five women keep their bra on during all the eroticism. Is this common or is this the American prudery that secretly comes into play?

In any case, it is nice that both the tenderness of sex and the pure lust are portrayed well. The sex scenes are realistic with all kinds of talk from the partners in between, which provides a number of comical notes. Especially the boyfriend and girlfriend come up with situations that are probably recognizable to many people. Martin Gero then wants to say: “Don’t let the grind slip into your sex life!”

Because the film does not last too long, you are not bothered by its simplicity. The lack of innovation does not irritate in this way either. “Young People Fucking” is entertaining to watch and confirms what we actually already knew: sex is always slightly different in real life than in the movies!