Universal Studios
Blockers follow three high school students on their prom night. In an effort to lose their virginity before college, the young girls run into issues when their parents discover they have made a sex pact. A comedy romp that’s both charming and hilarious, Blockers manages to stay interesting and endearing despite its mostly predictable story. Thanks to solid casting for both the girls and the parents, Blockers delivers a heartfelt story that’s often crude, but tells a good message about independence and exploring your sexuality.
The film starts off by introducing us to the three main characters at preschool. Julie (Kathryn Newton), Brenda (Geraldine Viswanathan), and Sam (Gideon Adlon) quickly become best friends, essentially forcing their parents to become friends as well. Julie is raised by Lisa (Leslie Mann), a single mother who’s as protective as she is loving. Brenda’s father Mitchell (John Cena) is hugely muscular and, at times, embarrassingly emotional. Sam’s father, Hunter (Ike Barinholtz), was my personal favorite, and his own personal issues with intimacy cause him to fade out of Sam’s life. When the girls have finally grown up and are ready to go to prom, their parents aren’t the friends they once were.
Before leaving for prom, Julie accidentally leaves her laptop open, exposing her ongoing group chat. Her mother and Brenda’s father stumble upon it, and after some help from Hunter, figure out that their daughters are planning on losing their virginity after prom. This sends the parents on a night-long quest to prevent their daughters’ sexual exploration, consisting of gags and jokes that are guaranteed to have you chuckling. Although the story Blockers tells is cliché and predictable, the moral of the story was refreshingly positive and empowering.
I was most impressed by the natural chemistry between the three female leads, Julie, Brenda, and Sam. Their friendship feels realistic and normal; there’s no forced laughs or awkward intimacy. It was easy to believe that these three girls were normal high school kids, and had truly been friends since childhood. Each character is also unique and defined, and their reasons for wanting to lose their virginity are appropriate for each. This sentiment extends to the parents as well. At first, they’re pretty cliché in their reasons for stopping the girls from having sex. However, as the movie progresses, you slowly learn the deeper reasons they have for preventing this proverbial loss of innocence.
The girls and their prom dates are good for a few laughs, but the most uproarious of the comedy stems from the often ignorant parents. All three parents are performed well, but I mostly gravitated towards Hunter. Perceived as lazy, unfaithful, and overall a bad parent, Hunter’s personal through line is surprisingly impacting and emotional. His backstory and character growth are excellent, and he is easily the funniest and most relatable parent of the bunch. Ike Barinholtz does a great job in the role of Hunter, and his honest portrayal of the “dad who just wants to be cool” really held the movie together. Both Leslie Mann and John Cena do great things with their characters as well, but Ike Barinholtz is the glue that holds the parent trio together.
The comedy is a good mix of situational humor, visual gags, and witty banter. For every laugh earned from a gross-out sequence, there’s an equally healthy laugh earned from a good dialogue. A lot of the parent’s dialogue feels improvised (in a good way), and the resulting scenes feel organic in nature. Hunter and Mitchell often find themselves in compromising situations, like a beer chugging contest with a spin, or a game of nude Marco Polo. These sequences are funny and entertaining, especially as Lisa encourages them to “take one for the team”. Every now and again a joke will fall flat, but the movie had me consistently giggling and smiling, a height that most modern comedies struggle to reach.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of Blockers is its message and themes. To talk about them would waver into spoiler territory, but it’s an important part of the movie that really heightened the story. Although the premise is pretty tired (sex on prom night, who would’ve thought), the motivations for each character are honest and believable. Sure, some characters motivations are as simple as that; lose your virginity before heading to college. More often than not, the sex pact means different things to different characters, and I was often times more interested in those motivations than the actual comedy. Whether it’s peer pressure, exploring your sexuality, or anything in between, Blockers does a great job in fleshing out most of the characters.
Overall, I was impressed by Blockers. It’s funny and relatable, tells us a good story with good characters, and doesn’t feel cheap or exploitative. Comedies purely based around sex often fail, and Blockers stays afloat by offering us good characters will believable stories. Like American Pie, sex is the common denominator in a story about growing as a person. Blockers isn’t as inventive as some of the films it takes inspiration from, but it stands out among its peers. Thanks to excellent casting, solid characters, and some great personal storytelling, Blockers ends up being an entertaining, albeit, predictable time.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfFcaV5O7SU”]
Movie Rating: 3 stars.
Movie Rating Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
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