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Review: How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town

The reason is unknown, but the Canadian sex comedy is certainly in. Canadian films have always had a place for sex, so it’s always nice to see Canadian content embracing sexuality in a humorous manner. For the most part, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is the perfect sex comedy; except for one thing. It’s missing the sex.

The film follows sex columnist Cassie Cranston (Jewel Staite) as she returns to her hometown following the death of her mother. The frigid townspeople – who slut-shamed her into moving years before – recruit Cassie to help them spice up their sex lives, by planning an orgy. There’s only one problem, Cassie has never had sex.

The humour in the film is great. It is genuinely a laugh-out-loud film, which is pretty impressive for something from Canada. That being said, the sexual content in the film is far too tame. What kind of film has the word “orgy” in the title but won’t even show a little nudity? I don’t really need nudity for an adult targeted film to be great – I watch Game of Thrones for the character development, I promise – but it really makes no sense in this case. I simply cannot buy into a film that tries to depict an orgy in which not a single person is nude.

With the lack of any realistic portrayal of sex, the film kind of fails as a sex comedy. It is pretty funny though, so I guess it gets half the job done.

[star v=3]

Matt Hoffman

Matthew Hoffman is a Toronto-based cinephile who especially enjoys French films and actresses over the age of 50; including but not limited to: Isabelle Huppert, Meryl Streep, and Jacki Weaver.