The Bulletin., June 03, 2021, Page 59, Image 59

Thursday, June 3, 2021 • The BuLLeTIn
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 17
MOVIES & SHOWTIMES
bendbulletin.com/gowatch
‘Plan B’ offers fresh route on familiar genre
BY MAKENZIE WHITTLE • The Bulletin
T
here’s been a string of solid female-driven teenage comedies of late, and Hulu’s “Plan B” takes its place among the best of them even if it can’t quite top the
rest. Though the plot is pretty formulaic, the movie’s heartfelt script and it’s the chemistry between its two leads raise it above being “just another” of those
aforementioned films.
In smalltown South Dakota, rebellious
high school senior Lupe (Victoria Moroles)
convinces her straight-laced and bookish
best friend Sunny (Kuhoo Verma) to throw
a party when her mom is out of town. Sun-
ny’s crush, and total boyfriend material,
Hunter (Michael Provost) will be there,
Lupe agrees to invite her mysterious new
flame to the mixer and the two prep by
throwing just about everything alcoholic
into a punch bowl with some cough syrup
and pickle juice and call it a signature drink.
With hopes of possibly losing her virgin-
ity, Sunny and Hunter really hit it off, but
when she over-
hears some of
Both Verma and
the blonde, plas-
Moroles shine in
tic-y popular
girls describing
their roles and
her American
deliver authentic
Girl Doll aes-
thetic, Sunny
performances of two changes her
look and settles
teens on the verge of
on doing the
adulthood trying to
deed before the
is over. But
figure out themselves night
Hunter has left
and the world.
with one of the
blondes before
Sunny reemerges with her new crop top and
mini skirt ensemble.
She retreats away from the crowd because
she’s hurt and finds her awkward, youth
group leader classmate Kyle (Mason Cook)
also hiding away. While the two comfort
each other, they have sex in all the brevity
and awkwardness of a first time.
The next morning, Sunny wakes up to
find that the condom they used the night
before fell off.
Enter Lupe, who after her crush failed to
show, crashed on the couch in a drunken
stupor, who agrees to help Sunny buy a Plan
B pill “just in case.” But when the two go to
their local pharmacy, the pharmacist sites
More Information
“Plan B”
107 minutes
TV-MA
Brett Roedel/Hulu
Victoria Moroles, left, and Kuhoo Verma in a scene from “Plan B,” now streaming on Hulu.
South Dakota’s “conscience clause” and re-
fuses to sell the pill to the girls on grounds of
religion or conscience.
Terrified, and hungover, they steal Sun-
ny’s mom’s minivan and decide to road trip
to Rapid City’s Planned Parenthood clinic to
get them.
Along the way, the two ride-or-dies get
lost and go to some extreme and hilarious
measures to get the pill before the window
of efficacy closes.
Struck somewhere between a raunchy sex
comedy, a coming of age story and a com-
mentary on some of the Midwest’s strin-
gent laws when it comes to women’s health
choices, “Plan B” never fully commits to one
genre over the other which can make it a lit-
tle disjointed at times.
But Prathiksha Srinivasan and Joshua
Levy’s clever dialogue under the direction
of Natalie Morales outpace the tonal un-
evenness. It is very clear what kind of stance
the filmmakers are taking in regards to the
politics surrounding women’s health, but
it never feels outright preachy. Instead, it
pokes holes and fun at the arbitrary clauses,
arcane sex ed in high schools and shows the
effects of what not having access to repro-
ductive healthcare can do.
The film feels very lived-in under Verma
and Moroles, they feel like a couple of
17-year-olds who have been best buds for
years, the world around them feels real and
authentic if a little outrageous at times. Both
Verma and Moroles shine in their roles and
deliver authentic performances of two teens
on the verge of adulthood trying to figure
out themselves and the world.
While the content of the film may not be
for everyone (it’s very raunchy) and it may
not be entirely original with its plotting,
spending the time with Sunny and Lupe is
both fun and a little inspiring no matter how
long you’ve been out of high school.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0304, mwhittle@bendbulletin.com
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