Girl Picture (2022)

Told over a trio of Friday evenings, this follows the story of three lifelong pals who are entering the exciting new world of adulthood and discovering things about their bodies and themselves that director Alli Haapasalo has knitted into one hundred minutes of light-hearted drama. "Mimmi" (Aamu Milonoff) and the figure skating-obsessed "Emma" (Linnea Leino) have always been joined at the hip and appear destined to take their relationship to the next level, whilst "Rönkkö" (Eleoonora Kauhanen) is more into finding out just to get her juices (quite literally) flowing. What now ensues sees these three girls go through some of the turbulence of adolescence, exploring their sexuality and questioning their priorities as they go - whilst causing some mayhem with the equally hormonal boys whom "Rönkkö", especially, seems to manage to frustrate at every turn as she rather methodically searches for her own "tingle". It's quite a quirkily coming of age sort of story, this, with a candidness to it that is quite refreshing at times. It's not often that we get films that deal with the feminine side of the coin when it comes to initial sexual encounters - some more successful than others. The writing and acting, though, is all rather underwhelming and it loves a stereotype as it's initial innovation gives way to an Hollywood-esque sisterhood exercise that can be quite cringemaking to watch at times. There's something entirely superficial about the whole thing and after half an hour I just felt that we were being presented with a series of scenarios straight (or not) from the teenage pop-up Kamasutra. It's not bad and at times is quite revealing of attitudes and that physical passion we all felt in our teens, but that quickly gives way to the routine and it loses it's punch.