Sorry, having trouble thinking up a clever play on this movie name. I watched this last night on Netflix. The MC is played by the same girl who plays Nancy in Stranger things, which is what initially caught my eye. The story follows a young girl going to Catholic school as she goes through a sexual awakening despite being told by everyone around her that anything sexual outside of marriage is a sin that will earn her eternal damnation.
The movie was made in 2019, but seems to be set in the early to late 90's because of the technology and computer chat rooms. The MC Alice is currently the object of a rumor that she "tossed someone's salad" a phrase I'd never even heard before that apparently refers to anilingus. Anyway, Alice doesn't know what it means either but that doesn't stop everyone (even the teachers) from believing it as unequivocally true. Alice goes off to a retreat sponsored by the school where you're not allowed to have your phone or watch (the better to brainwash) but Alice keeps her phone at first so she can play the snake game on it if she gets bored. Eventually she figures out that the vibrate feature meant to keep you alerted while it's on silent can have other uses.
Anyway, having grown up in a super religious household I kind of get it. I mean, I never went to school or anything, so the being bullied and the object of unfounded rumors part is foreign to me, but the idea that if you step out of line you're going to hell (or as my father called it, the lake of fire) struck home with me. I was appalled at the double standard the people around her seemed to have. The father at her school teaches in class that masturbation is a sin, but Alice accidentally stumbles on him watching porn on his computer and masturbating to it. Alice also sees one of her group leaders giving another a blow job and she tries to tell her friend about it and her friend accuses her of lying.
Eventually, Alice realizes that this life isn't for her and decides to stop letting it box her in. She also, finally, finds out what it is that everyone has been saying she did. The movie ends with her watching the sex scene in Titanic and using a vibrating toy to get herself off. Showing that she has accepted her sexuality and is comfortable with it now.
I'd say this movie is a pretty good portrayal of how it feels to grow up in a super religious context and try to be the "good" one only to find yourself constantly falling short. At least my parents didn't teach masturbation as a sin (although pornography was considered to be one). They did, however, drive home a particular homophobic message that haunted me well into my adult years. Thankfully, as I got away from people who shared this obnoxious point of view, I realized that there is nothing wrong with attraction to the same gender and that some people are just born like that.
I was happy that the movie showed her moving past that brainwashing hypocritical ideology that was being shoved down her throat. The fact is that trying to suppress sexual urges is the worst way to manage them. Masturbation is a completely healthy alternative if you're not ready for sex yet and a young person should never be shamed for doing it. They shouldn't be allowed to do it out in the open, of course, but they shouldn't be taught that it's wrong or that there's something wrong with them for wanting to do it.
