Capturing the laissez-faire attitude toward unbridled sexuality that we have come to expect from the French, director Eva Husson creates a sensual and sun-soaked, coming-of-age drama in her directorial debut, “Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story).” Unpolished and authentic, “Bang Gang” centers around a group of high school friends living in a wealthy coastal suburb of France with a lack of parental supervision, and their individual attempts to navigate through their teenage years while dealing with sexuality and the consequential messiness of love and heartbreak.
The film opens with a long one-take tracking shot that leads from outside into a large house where upwards of 40 teenagers are throwing a party. In one room, teens are hooking up with each other, fully naked, while others are clothed, playing video games,and oblivious to what’s going on right down the hall. Rewind a couple of months (as the title card reads ‘Two Months Earlier’) and we meet our protagonists George (Marilyn Lima) and Laetitia (Daisy Broom).
George is every Pinterest user’s dream girl, her un-kept, long blonde hair compliments her lightly freckled face and slender physique. Laetitia, on the other hand, is overshadowed by George’s beauty, but that doesn’t seem to bother either girl. One afternoon while hanging out with a couple of guys from school, a bit of sweet talking and peer pressure leads to Alex (Finnegan Oldfield) and George having sex while Laetitia and Nikita (Fred Hotier) just watch.
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) – Official trailer from Films Distribution on Vimeo.
Following an afternoon of enjoyment, the teens decide to include others in their fun. George initiates a game of spin the bottle, which ends up being just an excuse to hook up with each other, and soon the sex parties grow in numbers. Multiple teenagers engage in various sexual activities with each other, recording their trysts to watch later. It seems everyone is interested in the Bang Gang except for Gabriel (Lorenzo Lefèbvre), Laetitia’s introverted neighbor who would rather create electronic music at home than participate.
Drama ensues once George realizes she’s developed feelings for her hookup buddy Alex, and after seeing him get close to Laetitia, she attempts to get revenge by hooking up with as many boys as she can. Things get complicated once more when she falls in love with Gabriel after spending the afternoon together at a Bang Gang. They may be sex-driven, but these teens engage with the fantasy of finding real love and not just to feel pleasure as director Eva Husson gives her characters an innocence in their confusion between love and sex.
“Bang Gang” is more than just attractive French teenagers lounging half-naked and having sex with each other for shock and awe. It is a bold and daring statement about modern teenage culture and self-expression. Drawing comparisons to Larry Clark’s “Kids” and Sofia Coppola’s “Virgin Suicides”, “Bang Gang” is daringly original. Full frontal nudity, both male and female, makes up a majority of scenes. The synth-pop score also gives off the feeling of a Nicolas Winding Refn film in both its impending doom and dreaminess.
“Bang Gang” is definitely not a prude’s movie, one should stay away from making this the choice for a family outing. It is, however, a stunning and realistic portrait of finding oneself between the abyss of childhood and adulthood with a future that doesn’t necessarily end in happily ever after.
‘Bang Gang’ is not rated. Opens in select theaters today, 6/17.
