My Year Without Sex: Movie Review 

My Year Without Sex

Rating: 6/10

Cast: Sacha Horler, Matt Day, Jonathan Segat, Portia Bradley

Director: Sarah Watt

An Aussie dramedy about Natalie (Sacha Horler) and Ross (Matt Day), your average family with two kids and general day to day concerns.

Their lives are forever changed when Natalie suffers an aneurysm.

After her life-changing near death moment, the family as a whole unit has to deal with the fall out - and how the simplest things are not quite as easy as they used to be.

It's a film about faith in many ways - be it faith in the church as the mother tries to find some kind of spiritual bent after the brush with death, faith in those around you who support you through troubled times and faith in the future.

The film's divided up into monthly set pieces with each one titled something to do with sex - ie missionary, foreplay - and this framing doesn't work as well as it could do (I appreciate it's supposed to be about how everything's become sexual) as it has little to do with what's going on onscreen.

It's a shame because that side of it doesn't do the film any favours; while it's clearly a narrative device to get through the year, it's a bit out of kilter with events in front of you.

My Year Without Sex is anchored by two strong performances from Sacha Horler and Matt Day. The warmth generated by their interaction and realistic performances, along with some tender moments and humour ground the film and stop it from veering too far into melancholy.

Their lives are very real - and many in the audience will associate with the problems thrown at them.

Coupled with some unexpected laughs here and there - My Year Without Sex is a gently wry piece which has a sly humour and warmth. It may also find you leaving the cinema with questions about what your own life has amounted to.

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