The Daily Stream: Sex Appeal Experiments With Different Kinds Of Love
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Sex Appeal"
Where You Can Stream It: Hulu
The Pitch: High school senior Avery Hansen-White (Mika Abdalla) excels in every area of academics. With a laundry list of extracurricular activities, philanthropy efforts, and a 5.00 GPA, she's ready to take MIT by storm next year. But first, rather than focusing on the time-honored tradition of the senior prom, she chooses to conquer her "nerd prom" instead: a scientific competition that offers the winner a fellowship that sets them up for life.
Thanks to this year's STEMcon prompt, Avery must create an app that solves a problem in her personal life, which is something that she hasn't cultivated since she's preoccupied with academic milestones instead of "superfluous" ones. After finding inspiration in her long-distance boyfriend's desire to take their relationship to the next level, the young scientist decides to build an adaptable AI (with Spock's voice) that offers guidance to users wishing to have good sex.
In order to build a database of information on the subject, Avery enlists her oldest friend and frequent test subject, Larson (Jake Short), to experiment with sexual activities. However, what she doesn't take into account is the love and emotion that often comes with sex. The genius learns an important lesson about relationships that she couldn't find in any of her school books.
Why it's essential viewing
Despite being a corporate holiday that commodifies a stereotypical representation of passion and affection, Valentine's Day is supposed to be a holiday that celebrates love. But most people immediately associate the holiday with romantic love. Similarly, teen sex comedies have historically presented an unrealistic and incomplete picture of young love and the fornication practices that come with it. As Avery finds out while she's doing research for her app, the genre is focused on either making sex the most outrageous punchline imaginable or depicting the romantic grand gestures of a relationship and stopping just short of having sex.
What "Sex Appeal" does differently is that it examines many aspects of sex and love, which also includes love for a significant other, love for parents, and love for a best friend. It even covers self-love in an unexpected, yet satisfying way that most romantic comedies don't even touch on. Plus, Avery doesn't get a classic happy ending. Spoiler alert, Larson and Avery don't get together in the end. In fact, their friendship takes a pretty big hit by the time the credits roll. But just as Avery's "bonus mom" Kim (Rebecca Henderson) tells her after the whole ordeal, "That's the thing with friendship or sex. The key to a good friendship or good sex is about giving, not taking. Luckily, friendship, like sex, is something that you can get better at with practice."
With a fresh and modern take on the multiple forms of love, "Sex Appeal" stands out as a potentially perfect choice for a Valentine's Day movie. It may not be your classic love story, but love is certainly found in every facet of Avery's journey.
Altering the formula
In addition to presenting a nice cinematic offering for the holiday, "Sex Appeal" features a number of topics that typically go unexplored in the high school movie genre. Instead of graphic nudity or cringeworthy antics, the film normalizes and emphasizes consent, healthy boundaries, and LGBTQ+ relationships. More audiences need to see that boys and girls can be friends. And "happily ever after" doesn't necessarily need to have the main character fall in love or be partnered up for them to be celebrated at the end. It may seem like a lot to squeeze into a 90-minute movie, but it's a testament to the creative forces behind "Sex Appeal" and how well they keep these deviations from the well-known formula balanced and easily digestible.
The director Talia Osteen, screenwriter Tate Hanyok, and their whole team also keep their viewers invested by using creative innuendo and suggestive fantasies to depict sexual acts in unique and entertaining ways. They mix modern teen movies such as "The To Do List" and "Easy A" with "Whatever It Takes" and "Get Over It" from the early 2000s, before sprinkling in a bit of Busby Berkeley, "Weird Science," and the song "Reproduction" from "Grease 2."
But no matter the inspirations behind the Hulu original movie — from production company American High of "Crush,", "Plan B," and "Big Time Adolescence" fame — the team studied the history of teen sex comedies and deserves high marks for "Sex Appeal." It belongs in the pantheon of celebrated teen movies such as "Fast Times At Ridgemont High," "The Breakfast Club," "Superbad," and "Mean Girls."