Young People F***ing (Y.P.F) (2008) Movie Review

Many will be turned away from the title quicker than anything, which is Young People F***ing. It sounds like a porno title, but it is not. Y.P.F. is in fact an indie gem from Canada that is yes, for adults, but plays out like a blend of a Judd Apatow production with the heart and soul of a romantic comedy like Love Actually.

The film follows five different young couples in one night during their relational and sexual encounters. There are the two friends, Matt (Aaron Abrams) and Kris (Carly Pope), who hope to end their sexual need, but do not want to hurt their platonic relationship. Next is the married couple of Abby (Kristen Booth) and Andrew (Josh Dean), who are having troubles in the bedroom. Then there are the exes of Mia (Sonja Bennett) and Eric (Josh Cooke), who have just come off of awkward date but want to satisfy their needs. Ken (Callum Blue) is a womanizer that does not want to take advantage of the sweet good girl Jamie (Diora Baird). Finally there is the Gord (Ennis Esmer) and Inez (Natalie Lisinska), who has invited Gord’s annoyed roommate Dave (Peter Oldring) to join them in the bedroom. Each of these characters’ night is broken up into six parts by director Martin Gero which includes: Prelude, Foreplay, Sex, Interlude, Orgasm, and Afterglow.

Director/co-writer Martin Gero and his co-writer Aaron Abrams, who also plays Matt in the film have weave together a very funny romantic comedy that is very raunchy, but also is touching. Though the film centers totally around young people’s sexual encounters in one evening, the film is still driven by its original characters and sharp script. There are many hilarious moments throughout the film, which hit the audience off guard at times, which makes their placement and timing near perfect. Gero also uses music effectively throughout, which is comedically helps out with the exchanges between friends Matt and Kris. The title is misleading for this film, it does contain a lot of nudity and numerous sexual references and dilemmas, but this is not a porn film, it is irresistible romantic comedy. Though the situations are expletive, they are not so over the top that the realism and nature of the film is lost as if this was a teen-sex comedy like American Pie.

The cast for the film is endearing as well. All of the actors are solid and flesh out all the dimensions of their characters. The only one of the cast that gets carried away to a point is comedian Ennis Esmer, who is over the top at times, but by the end of the film it is evident that his character may have been flat without his demeanor.

Y.P.F premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and was released in Canada on June 13th, 2008. The film was released in the United Kingdom on DVD on June 30th, 2008. Though Thinkfilm has picked up distribution rights to this film in the United States, it still has an undetermined release date. Hopefully, Y.P.F. will not go straight to DVD, because it is far better a film than that. The title will turn so people away and its content is not for everyone, but this is wonderfully original romantic comedy that will hugely entertain young couples.