The teen sex comedy gets a gender flip in “Blockers,” as a tight-knit trio of girls make a “sex pact,” vowing to lose their virginity on prom night.
But it’s really the parents who are front and center in this raunchy quite funny directorial debut from “Pitch Perfect” writer Kay Cannon, which presents plenty of warm hugs from the idea of parental anxiety about their kids leaving the nest.
Driving that anxiety home, the three girls (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon) are initially shown meeting as adorable kindergarteners, before jumping ahead to find them preparing for prom night, and seizing on the idea of sharing the big sex moment as a kind of anniversary. (The fact that one is actually wrestling with coming out adds a nice wrinkle to the events.)
As anticipated, their respective parents: single mom Lisa (Leslie Mann), tear-prone dad Mitchell (John Cena) and divorced dad/perpetual screw-up Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) — get wind of the scheme, with the first two bent on stopping it, while the third — having become distant from his kid since the split — tagging along without endorsing the idea of trying to stop them. Honestly, it’s a rather unlikely group of leads better associated with second tear roles. Still, the ensemble works.
Obviously, there’s a long history of movies about boys losing their virginity, including the “American Pie” series. “Blockers” gives girls their turn, similar to what “Bridesmaids” did for the bachelor-party motif, while taking on a similar level of naughtiness, from crude talk to projectile vomiting to a whole new method of chugging beer. (Even the rooster logo is a not-exactly-subtle symbol of what the older folks want to block.)
“Tonight is the beginning of my adult life,” one of the girls says as they head to prom. But if “Blockers” demonstrates anything that resonates beyond the laughs, it’s that people don’t outgrow familial worries; rather, we simply trade the childhood variety in for a whole new basket of them.
R (for crude and sexual content, and language throughout, drug content, teen partying, and some graphic nudity)
Thankfully you can watch this on VidAngel
I give it a B+
