Blockers

Raunchy comedy Blockers delivers both arguments about feminism and John Cena butt-chugging beer – what's not to love

Film Review by Iana Murray | 26 Jul 2018
Film title: Blockers
Director: Kay Cannon
Starring: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, Gideon Adlon
Release date: 6 Aug
Certificate: 15

It’s hard for any parent to see their child grow up. One day they’re leaving the nest to go to school for the first time, the next they’re a horny teenager making a sex pact. So is the case for Lisa (Leslie Mann), Mitchell (John Cena) and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz), whose respective BFF daughters decide to lose their virginity on prom night. After deciphering the eggplant emojis and “yas queens” on the girls’ group chat, the three parents do everything in their power to stop their children from having sex. The rooster on the film’s poster tells you there’s a prefix to Blockers

The film is aware of its contradictions and charges at them head-on. It could easily go down the route of peddling the outdated idea that losing your virginity means losing your innocence, but Kay Cannon’s directorial debut is smarter than that. It embraces teenage sexuality and femininity wholeheartedly, and in all forms too: Julie (Kathryn Newton) wants to have the perfect first time, while Sam (Gideon Adlon) is only following her friends’ lead, too scared to come out as a lesbian.

Mainstream comedies are usually coy about addressing sex, and even then it’s reserved for the boys. Blockers is delightfully crude, but its bluntness is what makes it authentic. The word “penis” is thrown around as often as they are seen on screen. Though it might make you squirm, it stays true to how teenage girls talk today – and this writer is speaking as someone only a few years out of teenager-dom.

Like all Rogen-Goldberg produced comedies, Blockers wants you to revel in its juvenile humour, but its empowering message makes it stand above the rest. In between arguments about feminism, John Cena is butt-chugging beer, and you’ll love the film for both.

Extras

The usual outtakes and deleted scenes, plus an intriguing-sounding featurette: John Cena's Prom Survival Kit for Parents