Blockers (2018)
June 22, 2018 8:00 AM - Subscribe
When three parents stumble upon their daughters' pact to lose their virginity at prom, they launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal.
ellieBOA, thanks for all these posts about lady-driven summer comedies!
I loved this, for the most part. I actually wasn't planning to see it, but I was literally on the way to go see I Feel Pretty with a friend, and was listening to the podcast Pop Rocket, where they recommended it heartily for being a great antidote to all the jokes about fathers defending their daughters' virginity. I got to the theater and asked my friend if she'd be willing to go see this instead. We laughed for the entire time.
Obviously, the really great thing about this is how it deconstructs the tired tropes about daughters and dating, etc. But I also really appreciated how real the teenage girl protagonists felt. The character of Kayla was so great because I feel like I knew half a dozen Kaylas when I was in high school and college but I don't know if I've ever seen a Kayla on the big screen.
posted by lunasol at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I loved this, for the most part. I actually wasn't planning to see it, but I was literally on the way to go see I Feel Pretty with a friend, and was listening to the podcast Pop Rocket, where they recommended it heartily for being a great antidote to all the jokes about fathers defending their daughters' virginity. I got to the theater and asked my friend if she'd be willing to go see this instead. We laughed for the entire time.
Obviously, the really great thing about this is how it deconstructs the tired tropes about daughters and dating, etc. But I also really appreciated how real the teenage girl protagonists felt. The character of Kayla was so great because I feel like I knew half a dozen Kaylas when I was in high school and college but I don't know if I've ever seen a Kayla on the big screen.
posted by lunasol at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
You're welcome! Having a sick weekend so queuing up movies, like having the Fanfare posts open afterwards and saw these three weren't posted yet. I'm clearly consuming super female driven media at the moment :)
posted by ellieBOA at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm going to say something, then accept this movie wasn't for me and walk on.
I have the Dutch version of movie pass. So I started this movie, but it's one of the very few I've ever walked out of. I found the entire premise of this movie to be toxic and incredibly offensive. This is how you end up with repressed kids who have issues with discussing their sex lives later in life. I hate, and don't really understand how and/or why "Sex?! But no!" is fodder for comedy.
... I had to throw that out somewhere. Thanks MF for the forum. And that's not a judgement in the slightest to any of y'all that enjoyed it. Different strokes, different folks.
posted by Seeba at 12:29 PM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
I have the Dutch version of movie pass. So I started this movie, but it's one of the very few I've ever walked out of. I found the entire premise of this movie to be toxic and incredibly offensive. This is how you end up with repressed kids who have issues with discussing their sex lives later in life. I hate, and don't really understand how and/or why "Sex?! But no!" is fodder for comedy.
... I had to throw that out somewhere. Thanks MF for the forum. And that's not a judgement in the slightest to any of y'all that enjoyed it. Different strokes, different folks.
posted by Seeba at 12:29 PM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Seeba, I will say this in tepid defense: The parents do come around to the realization that they are being toxic, and it is portrayed as them learning and really taking it to heart, rather than begrudgingly accepting it.
posted by Etrigan at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2018
posted by Etrigan at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2018
Seeba, if you didn't finish it then you missed a lot. See my comment - the movie spends the entire second half deconstructing that toxic premise. I won't tell you to give it another shot if you hated it that much, but you should at least know what you missed.
posted by lunasol at 4:46 PM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by lunasol at 4:46 PM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
That said, I'm really glad I had heard that podcast beforehand, where they talked about how the movie ended up subverting the premise, because yeah, when I first saw the trailer I had the same reaction as you!
posted by lunasol at 4:47 PM on June 22, 2018
posted by lunasol at 4:47 PM on June 22, 2018
... a'ight, I'll check it out again then. ... probably gonna' netflix it later though, didn't seem like it demanded big-screen treatment.
posted by Seeba at 3:20 AM on June 23, 2018
posted by Seeba at 3:20 AM on June 23, 2018
Got round to watching it, definitely not the best but as above was happy that they subverted the premise, and I literally jumped with joy for the lesbian plot working out!
posted by ellieBOA at 12:46 PM on June 23, 2018
posted by ellieBOA at 12:46 PM on June 23, 2018
the kids in this movie were great and I hope they keep getting good projects.
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:41 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:41 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm not entirely sure how I got around to watching this. Maybe I needed some John Cena (and he's totally adorable here; breaking into a room of furries around a pentagram "... Play sports!", and stay for the post-credit scene).
The "going away" for college (even locally in Chicago, they must be somewhere like Highland Park?*) and just assuming that her college apartment is somehow just going to be financed is a little telling.
Same with the 16th bday car (although it's at least not ostentatious and a second hand one at that).
The teenagers felt totally relatable, socioeconomic status aside; thinking back to HS and all the 'expectations' (from all sides) and how bs all that was. As an old, I'm kind of liking how this showed/ normalizing a more consensuality-based and safe-sex culture (that the movie parents were not aware of).
The parents' relationships with each other, too especially. There was a bunch of "no homo" nonsense but the actors were game.
No regrets giving this 100 minutes of my time.
*omg, residential real estate is sooo cheap there, though
posted by porpoise at 6:50 PM on March 5, 2019
The "going away" for college (even locally in Chicago, they must be somewhere like Highland Park?*) and just assuming that her college apartment is somehow just going to be financed is a little telling.
Same with the 16th bday car (although it's at least not ostentatious and a second hand one at that).
The teenagers felt totally relatable, socioeconomic status aside; thinking back to HS and all the 'expectations' (from all sides) and how bs all that was. As an old, I'm kind of liking how this showed/ normalizing a more consensuality-based and safe-sex culture (that the movie parents were not aware of).
The parents' relationships with each other, too especially. There was a bunch of "no homo" nonsense but the actors were game.
No regrets giving this 100 minutes of my time.
*omg, residential real estate is sooo cheap there, though
posted by porpoise at 6:50 PM on March 5, 2019
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posted by Etrigan at 8:43 AM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]