Yes, God, Yes | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Karen Maine |
Written by | Karen Maine |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Todd Antonio Somodevilla |
Edited by | Jennifer Lee |
Music by | Ian Hultquist |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Vertical Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Yes, God, Yes is a 2019 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer. It is Maine's directorial debut, [1] based on her 2017 short film of the same name, also starring Dyer. [2]
Yes, God, Yes premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 8, 2019, where it received a special jury prize for best ensemble. [3] [4] The film had limited theatrical release in drive-in theaters and virtual cinemas in the United States on July 24, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment, before launching digitally and on video on demand on July 28, 2020; [5] [6] subsequently, it was also made available on Netflix on October 22, 2020. [7]
It is the fall of 2000. Alice is a sexually inexperienced but curious junior at a strict Midwestern co-ed Catholic high school, where Father Murphy instructs her Morality class that any sexual activity not aimed toward procreation within a heterosexual marriage is a sin, with eternal damnation as punishment. She struggles with accepting her burgeoning feelings of sexual desire after both Father Murphy and her best friend, Laura, cause her to feel ashamed of them.
The following Monday, the school is abuzz with a rumor that Alice "tossed the salad" of a classmate, Wade, at Laura's party over the weekend. Alice denies this, admitting to not knowing what the phrase means. The rumor reaches Mrs. Veda, who prevents Alice from serving at Mass. Later that day, during the sacrament of reconciliation, Alice confesses venial sins to Father Murphy and receives a light penance of twenty prayers, which she immediately and fervently fulfills in the school chapel, Father Murphy and Mrs. Veda's words about sex echoing in her mind.
Alice and Laura both decide to attend the school's next "Kirkos" spiritual retreat— Alice to return to the path of righteousness, and Laura to be accepted by Nina, a popular senior. When they arrive on the retreat campgrounds, Laura is excited to find that Nina is a retreat leader, while Alice eyes Chris, a hunky senior who is also a retreat leader. Chris is friendly and enthusiastic, and after Alice is assigned to his group, the two begin to bond. That night, while playing on her contraband cell phone, Alice accidentally discovers that she can pleasure herself using her phone's vibrating feature; however, she stops soon after looking at the crucifix hanging in her room.
On the second day of the retreat, Alice fakes an injury on a hike to get closer to Chris. Nina confiscates Alice's phone; and, as a punishment, Father Murphy assigns Alice to cleaning duties around the retreat house. Once she is alone, she logs onto an AOL chat room from Father Murphy's office computer to ask what "tossing salad" means; before she can find out, the sound of footsteps causes her to hastily shut off the computer and leave. She runs into Nina, who lightheartedly guilts Alice about Alice's presumed sexual encounter with Wade, another instance of Alice's inability to be free of the rumor even while "on Jesus's time".
On the third day of the retreat, Father Murphy announces his discovery of an explicit chat on his computer; of course, no one claims responsibility. He later pushes Alice to confess to acting on her sexual temptations with Wade and doesn't believe her insistence that nothing happened. Alice confronts Wade about his complicity in the rumors spread by failing to deny it, and he leaves without admitting his fault or apologizing. Again, on cleaning duty, Alice witnesses Nina kissing, then fellating, another senior leader in the woods; Alice shares this with Laura, who refuses to believe Alice, accuses Alice of breaking into Father Murphy's office, and ends their friendship, calling Alice a "pervy psycho". Alice returns to Father Murphy's office and frames Wade for the earlier break-in; while hiding to make her escape, she catches Father Murphy masturbating to a pornographic video saved on his computer. Outside, finding herself alone with Chris, Alice kisses him, but he becomes overwhelmed and runs away. That night, Alice flees the campgrounds and stumbles upon a lesbian bar, where she and the owner, Gina, commiserate about how the fear of damnation can warp an adolescent's development. Gina counsels Alice and gives her a ride back to the retreat, encouraging Alice to look into colleges on the West and East Coasts and finally assuaging Alice's curiosity about what "tossing salad" means.
On the last day of the retreat, Alice befriends a socially awkward classmate while Father Murphy pulls Wade aside. With Wade on the hook for the explicit chat incident, Laura makes peace with Alice. At a whole group sharing session, Alice reminds the retreat attendees that everyone is "hiding stuff" and implores them to treat each other with honesty and respect, as Jesus wanted.
Back at school, Alice reassures a still-uncomfortable Chris that they can just be friends. Returning to reconciliation with Father Murphy, Alice boldly reveals that while on the retreat she saw a video of people having sex—both of them knowing, but not discussing, the implications of her confession. Father Murphy assigns a heavier penance of one hundred prayers, but instead of remaining in the chapel, Alice goes home to rewatch and masturbate to the sex scene in Titanic .
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Natalia Dyer's charming performance – and writer-director Karen Maine's sensitive work – will leave audiences saying Yes, God, Yes to this coming-of-age dramedy." [8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [9]
Richard Brody of The New Yorker called the film a "remarkable" first feature for writer and director Karen Maine, [10] and included it on his list of the best films of 2020. [11]
Yes, God, Yes was named as one of the "Best of SXSW 2019" films by The Hollywood Reporter . [3]
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.
Marie Louise Hartman, known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress and sex educator. By 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand adult films. She has been described by Las Vegas Weekly as an "outspoken feminist" and "advocate for sexual freedom", and by CNBC as "a legend in the adult world".
Melanie Thandiwe Newton, formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. She has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, and a BAFTA Award, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to film and charity.
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger, and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over 40 million copies world wide.
Human Traffic is a 1999 British-Irish independent coming of age comedy drama film written and directed by Justin Kerrigan. It is a cult film of the Cool Cymru era of arts in Wales.
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Exit to Eden is a 1994 American comedy thriller film directed by Garry Marshall and adapted to the screen by Deborah Amelon and Bob Brunner from Anne Rice's novel of the same name. The original music score was composed by Patrick Doyle.
Alice Braga Moraes is a Brazilian actress and producer. She has appeared in several Brazilian films, starring as Angélica in the acclaimed City of God (2002), Karinna in Lower City (2005), and Dolores in Only God Knows (2006).
Jennifer Wade is an American actress known for playing Liz Traynor on the Fox television series The Good Guys, Nina in The CW television series Reaper, and the character of Honey Pie in the Feast film trilogy.
God's Step Children is a 1938 American drama film directed by Oscar Micheaux and starring Jacqueline Lewis. The film is inspired by a combination of elements shared from two previously released Hollywood productions, Imitation of Life and These Three.
Timothy Simons is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jonah Ryan on the HBO television series Veep, for which he has received five nominations and one win for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He has also had acting roles in the films The Interview, Christine, and The Boss.
The Final Girls is a 2015 American comedy slasher film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller. The film stars Taissa Farmiga and Malin Åkerman, with supporting performances from Adam DeVine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Ludwig, and Nina Dobrev. The plot follows a group of high school students who are transported into a 1986 slasher film called Camp Bloodbath.
Natalia Leite is a Brazilian writer and director. She is best known for directing the indie hit film M.F.A., a feminist rape-revenge thriller that spurred debates at the start of the #MeToo movement. Subsequently, she went on to direct episodes of The Handmaid's Tale. Her work has been described as having “a bracing, assertive style” (Variety), "emotional intelligence", and as “cementing the reign over highly stylized, sexually progressive dramas” (Slant). Leite is known to incorporate her documentary subjects into her scripted films.
Laura Ruth Harrier is an American actress and model. She began modeling at the age of 17 after she was discovered by a location scout. She moved to New York City where she continued modeling and was represented by agencies such as IMG Models and Wilhelmina Models. She modeled for various mainstream magazines, appeared in campaigns for Urban Outfitters, Macy's and Steve Madden, and was the face of Garnier. After appearing in several commercials and student films, Harrier decided to pursue acting and studied at the William Esper Studio. She was first recognized for her role as Destiny Evans in the 2013 one-season reboot of the American soap opera One Life to Live.
Natalia Danielle Dyer is an American actress. She is known for starring as Nancy Wheeler in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things (2016–present). She has also appeared in the Peacock comedy thriller series Based on a True Story (2023) and in the films Yes, God, Yes (2019), Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) and Things Heard & Seen (2021).
I Believe in Unicorns is a 2014 American independent coming-of-age romantic drama film written and directed by Leah Meyerhoff. The film stars Natalia Dyer, Peter Vack, Julia Garner, Amy Seimetz and Toni Meyerhoff. The film was released on May 29, 2015, by Gravitas Ventures.
Abigail Hardingham is a British actress. Hardingham's roles include Alice Webster in the BBC Drama The Missing (2016) and Holly in the British horror comedy film Nina Forever. In 2015, Hardingham was awarded "Most Promising Newcomer" by the British Independent Film Awards.
A Quiet Place is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski. The screenplay was written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods from a story they conceived, with contributions by Krasinski after he joined the project. The plot revolves around a mother and father (Krasinski) who struggle to survive and raise their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing.
Tito is a 2019 Canadian drama film written and directed by Grace Glowicki. Glowicki plays Tito, a man terrified of the outside world and hunted by sexual predators. The refuge he finds in an abandoned house is disturbed by the arrival of John, a cheerful and protective neighbor.
Karen Maine is an American film director and screenwriter known for Obvious Child and Yes, God, Yes.