MAKING A LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE // A FILM REVIEW OF "SHARP STICK"

BY MATEO MORENO

Lena Dunham's writing is something of an acquired taste. Her hit HBO television show Girls had as many detractors as it did massive fans. However, whether you're a fan of her style or not, I do believe she is a talented writer. Both her feature film Tiny Furniture and the HBO series Girls often showcased quite an original voice and she received a BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe (among others) for her efforts. So it's quite strange to see her follow it up with SHARP STICK, her bizarre and wildly unfunny new comedy. Debuting at Sundance Film Festival this year, it made headlines with a Twitter user accused the filmmakers of approaching her as an "autism consultant" but then ghosted her. The filmmakers responded back, saying that the main character Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) "was never written nor imagined as a neurodivergent woman." But after watching five minutes of this film, it very much seems as if the filmmakers are indeed writing Sarah Jo how they think a neurodivergent character behaves, even if it's never said. And it's an uncomfortable and borderline offensive watch. It's as if they got all of their character building tips from Sia.

Sarah Jo is a babysitter for a special needs child of a soon-to-be expecting couple (played by Jon Bernthal & Lena Dunham). It's clear that she has a crush on the man-child husband Josh (Bernthal) but doesn't know what to do with this information. She lives with her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and sister (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who both constantly talk about sex, yet somehow Sarah Jo has no idea what online porn is or what "going down" means. She also has never had any sexual experiences, or any real teenage experience, due to having an emergency hysterectomy when she was 15 (she's now 26). She helps her sister record sensual TikTok videos but has literally no idea what sex is or how to do it. Eventually she gathers the nerve to ask Josh if he finds her beautiful. After about 30 seconds of trying to "fight the urge," Josh succumbs to his emotions and the two begin an affair.

Things get quite uncomfortable from there. It's clear that Dunham is trying to make a sex-positive sexual awakening story, but since Sarah Jo's actions are so childlike, it's just icky to watch any of it. Watching Kristine Froseth make facial expressions that can only be described as "uncomfortable" and seeing her make a third grade looking art project that lists the A to Z's of all the different kinds of sex she's learning and wants to try is painful. N stands for "necrophilia" and she writes next to it, "Definitely not!" L stands for "Lesbian" and she writes something like, "No need!" Such comedy. It sadly doesn't get better. The writing is aimlessly terrible, with the subtlety of a dump truck. No one comes out of this disaster clean. The usually brilliant Jennifer Jason Leigh is saddled with a character that even she can't do anything with. Even if you're a huge fan of Dunham, it's best to stay far away from the puzzling Sharp Stick. Wait till she (hopefully) rebounds from this dumpster fire.

GRADE: F

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Lena Dunham STARRING Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Luka Sabbat, Lena Dunham, Taylour Paige, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Scott Speedman NOW PLAYING IN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES. OPENS NATIONWIDE FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH. AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS AUGUST 16TH.