Young People Fucking

Young People Fucking (distributed as YPF in US and UK markets[2]) is a 2008 Canadian sex comedy film directed by Martin Gero, who co-wrote it with Aaron Abrams.

The film's story is told in a linear fashion, alternating through a series of single-location vignettes connected by theme but with characters representing different archetypes.

Young People Fucking intertwines the stories of four couples and one threesome as they have one sexual encounter each, which are divided into chapters: prelude, foreplay, sex, interlude, orgasm and afterglow.

Unsatisfied, Jamie admits to pretending to be an ingénue to appeal to Ken and calls him a hypocrite when he complains that she lied to have sex.

In this moment of honesty, Dave quietly admits to having a shoe fetish that has made forming a relationship difficult, but Gord and Inez do not seem to hear.

Abrams, co-writer of the project, said he wrote most of the male parts for himself with the intention of taking whichever role they had difficulty casting.

[6] In November 2007, three weeks prior to filming, the project's distribution deal collapsed when ThinkFilm was sold to American investors.

Producer Steve Hoban moved quickly to secure a new Canadian distributor and investor that would accept the project without a cast, director or script change.

In February 2008, news broke that it contained a clause allowing the government to retroactively strip tax credits from films the Heritage Minister deemed "contrary to public policy".

What that meant and how it might be applied was unclear, and it was followed by several months of investigation by the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee, with testimony from the arts community and religious activists.

[12][14] New Democratic Party heritage critic Bill Siksay found it "troubling" that the film was said to be undeserving of tax-credit support, saying, "I think lots of people will have a good laugh when they see it".

[7] Liberal Heritage critic Denis Coderre rated the movie 3 out of 5 and said, "My Canada includes freedom of expression, and I do not think politicians should get involved in creation".

In mid-March, Maple Pictures took over as Canadian distributor and postponed the release to June 13 to accommodate a modest advertising campaign[24][2] while taking advantage of publicity from the Bill C-10 controversy.

[2] The film was rated NC-17 in the United States, which meant few theatres would show it and many publications refused to run advertisements.

[26] Maple Pictures released Young People Fucking on DVD on October 14, 2008, with a commentary track by Gero and Abrams.

[31] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail rated it 2.5 out of 4 stars, describing it as well-paced, showing "an emotionally vulnerable and funny side" of sex, but with uneven characters.

[35] Ken Eisner of The Georgia Straight found the film worked well and had some insights but did not probe deeply into the subject matter.

[36] Septième art's François Petitclerc said the film's structure punctuated its fluid and convincing writing, and that the actors commanded their roles.

[37] Brian Johnson of Maclean's wrote that the film is well-shot with some good performances but found it suffered from "squeaky-clean mediocrity" and unbelievable situations.

[39] Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "Neither as extreme nor ... as interesting as its troublesome title, Young People Fucking delivers what it promises", though he found the characters lacking and the dialogue repetitive.

[40] Screen Daily's Leonard Klady wrote, "Neither documentary nor hardcore, it's an ingeniously constructed pastiche of sexual encounters presented affectionately and with humour".

[43] Film Threat stated that Young People Fucking "shoots Judd Apatow-styled raunch into previously uncharted stratospheres of frank sexual humor" but that the cast were too attractive to be believable.

[44] Felix Vasquez of Cinema-crazed.com hated the "pseudo mumblecore" whining of beautiful people but appreciated the turnarounds in the second half and its message about love's fragility.

[47] Howell and Lou Lumernick of New York Post likened Young People Fucking to a raunchy reboot of 1970s TV series Love, American Style, saying the two texts share a format of characters working through their romantic issues.

At the politically charged ceremony in Ottawa, Jay Stone of The National Post wrote that it was a "vindication" for the film.

Members of the cast at an eTalk Schmooze event at TIFF (from left: Lisinska, Abrams, Pope)