Talking Tribeca: Slut in a Good Way

I’ve had the pleasure this year of screening a number of selections from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place April 18th-29th.

Slut in a Good Way
Directed by Sophie Lorain
Viewpoints – Narrative

There are so many movies about teenagers for a reason: it’s a formative period in which all children begin to transform into adults, whatever that may mean for their specific experience. It’s not a time upon which many look back fondly, making it great fodder for comedy. The ways in which the story can be presented vary based on the focus of the film and its plot, and this edgily-titled film chooses to lens its story in black-and-white and showcase only teenagers, formatting choices that enhance an involving take on teen angst that’s funny and feels fresh.

Charlotte (Marguerite Bouchard), Aube (Rose Adam), and Mégane (Romane Denis) are inseparable best friends all experiencing their own woes in teenage love. Charlotte is devastated after discovering that her perfect boyfriend is gay, Aube has yet to express her feelings for a guy, and Mégane doesn’t seem the least bit interested in romance, viewing it as an aggressive infringement on her self-expression. Bored, the three apply for jobs at Toy Depot, which allows them to spend time with a whole host of eligible and eager boys, creating conflicts in their relationships and allowing them to learn a great deal about themselves and each other which may or may not last into their adult years.

This French-language Canadian film is the latest Tribeca Film Festival selection to confront female teenagers with an overactive sexual imagination, following in the footsteps of memorable movies from years past such as “Being 14” and “Turn Me On, Dammit!” This film uses the setting of its massive warehouse as a breeding ground for flirtation and the embodiment of the frustration all of its employees feel about the world as a whole. Omitting any adults from the story heightens the sense that, for these girls, working in this hormone-filled megastore feels like all there is in the world.

All three actresses who share top billing have relatively short resumés, and this film serves as a fine addition to all of them, with all three delivering lived-in, genuine performances. The emphasis here is on comedy, with the developments that could be termed serious presented in an entertaining light and expressed creatively rather than matter-of-factly. Presenting the film in black-and-white helps the vast Toy Depot feel like a truly timeless place, and there are a number of clever moments that help this film’s originality show through, including the ending that serves as the most fitting conclusion possible to a worthwhile excerpt that these characters would be sure to want to forget were they to come of age.

B+