REVIEW: Blockers

★★★½

Blockers is essentially your typical teen sex comedy, but with a lot more heart. While there are many of the expected cliché jokes sprinkled throughout (projectile vomit, anyone?), within it lies a greater message about the double standards that come with women having sex. Overall, director Kay Cannon delivered solid laughs and a cute film about family, friendship, and female empowerment.

In the film, Julie (Kathryn Newton) tells her friends, Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) and Sam (Gideon Adlon), that she plans on losing her virginity to her boyfriend the night of prom. The other girls eventually decide they want to follow suit, but it isn't long before overprotective parents Lisa (Leslie Mann), Mitchell (John Cena), and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) discover their daughters' plans. Over the course of the night, the three parents find themselves on a wild pursuit to stop the girls before it's too late.

The humour was a balanced mix of crude and raunchy jokes typical of the genre with punchy and quick-witted one-liners. It may not be a film for everyone, but it's definitely meant for anyone desiring something light and fun.

Performances by all the lead actors were well-executed, among both the adults and teens. Leslie Mann took the reigns as mom-in-charge much of time, John Cena surprisingly hit many of the film's most humorous beats, and Ike Barinholtz added his flare of personality into the mix. Newton, Viswanathan, and Adlon also each had many great moments, and all came across as promising up-and-comers. 

I was delightfully surprised at the film's focus on the parent-child relationship - while it may have seemed obvious given the subject matter, it made Blockers quite emotionally relatable no matter what your age. The film's take on women being in control of their own sexuality was also refreshing to see in this genre, and if anything, it shows promise as to where the future of comedy is headed.