YPF–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 something about sex that we didn’t already know? New. ‘Young People Fucking’ will probably not make the Dutch public look or blush. In America, director Martin Gero will perhaps stir up more dust with this very civilized, light-hearted film about how sex is not, but above all, is possible.

The different couples introduced to us come across very natural and seem completely at ease with each other. This makes it pleasant to watch. A pleasant tension arises within the couples that you let them empathize 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 face each other in a different way and this affects their sex life in some way. Even though the couple who are boyfriend and girlfriend in particular may seem very cliché, the message is clear: experiment! Enjoy! Look beyond your bedroom door!

‘YPF’ 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 film, but it can get boring. A bit of free spirit who sees ‘YPF’ 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-evident.

Indeed, ‘YPF’ does not seem to be very innovative with the amount of porn in mind that we have lying around in the Netherlands. Perhaps Gero wanted to reach a specific target group. For example, the young people who are still going to start having sex, or probably the American public that still falls from their chair at the sight of a strap-on.

That filming was done with a certain tact becomes clear when we notice that at least two out of five women keep their bra on during all the eroticism. Is this common or is this American prudishness sneaking around the corner?

In any case, it is nice that both the tenderness of sex and the pure lust are well portrayed. The sex scenes are realistically constructed with all kinds of chatter from the partners in between, which provides a number of comic 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 rut creep into your sex life!’

Because the film isn’t too long, you won’t be bothered by its simplicity. The lack of innovation is also not irritating in this way. ‘Young People Fucking’ is entertaining to watch and confirms what we already knew: sex in real life is always slightly different than in the movie!