Film Review: Yes, God, Yes (2020)

The following review contains spoilers.

Image Edited, Image by Netflix, Inc. Yes, God, Yes (2020) is, at it's core, is a commentary on fundamentalism, intentional or not, and an insight into the mind of a woman failed by an institution she relied on.

Set to a presumed midwestern US backdrop the film follows one Alice C, a 16 year old catholic girl attending a fundamentalist catholic high school.

Alice is portrayed by Natalia Dyer, who does a pretty decent job playing the character nearly 10 years younger than herself. You will likely know her as Nancy from Stranger Things, another seemingly mild mannered schoolgirl who experiences somewhat of their own 'coming of age' story.

The film largely tackles Alice's struggles between her faith, her peers and her temptations. Spurred on by a rumour, Alice is led seeking answers in an online chat room, which subsequently turns crude and kicks off a series of events.

Whilst having no particularly 'dark' elements I would hesitate to label it a light hearted film and most certainly not a comedy. In general, the tone is kept remarkably consistent for something that comes across as a series of scenes rather than a coherent story.

A rather basic three strand narrative, split over a few days tells us the frustrations of a girl who quite simply, cant keep it in her pants, with that trademark Netflix polish on top.

We are positioned, almost naturally, from Alice's perspective- but why?

I'd like to say that it is due to the way our society views sex, and that Alice is just our blank slate on which to project ourselves, however I have significant reason to believe that it was actually because Alice represents the Director and Writers experiences growing up in a fundamentalist Christian area of the midwestern states in the late 90's and early 00's. If you are wondering why that is suspiciously specific it's mainly because she said so in an interview and because humour is hard to convey over text.

Overall as a film it feels like an untangling thread with a nearly cathartic ending that falls just flat of anything moving and a constantly looming feeling that there's more to the story that actually exists.

After Alice's speech on the fourth day of Kikos I was expecting her to follow her own advise, to forgive those who spread the rumours and not lead Wade into the same circle of hell she found herself in in the past 5-6 days by leading the priest into thinking he was Gay.

This is significant however, as it demonstrates the films willingness takes sides a heck of a lot less than I expected it to going in. It puts Alice on the same level of hypocrisy as Father Murphy, our stand in for the catholic church. Whilst it most certainly comes from a single perspective and the church's actual views don't get any screen-time, it presents an interesting perspective, and one that is just as valid to the discussion as the actual discussion itself.

This is sadly the perspective of many people across the world, those who have had a bad experience with the faith growing up, and saw the flaws in the humanity of the individual as a system of hypocrisy, and a rejection of fundamentalist values being taken as a rejection of the faith as a whole.

It's easier to label what this film isn't than what it is; it isn't a debate on the morality of "victimless sins", nor a discussion. It is an insight, a perspective from the mind of a woman who was failed by those who she looked to for answers, and the imperfections of a church ran by man, but dedicated to God.

The failure of a community to provide answers to those who need them. The actual cinematography work is decent, but nothing stood out as too exceptional, the acting is always great but I would expect nothing less given the large Netflix budget.

Overall, I would consider Yes, God, Yes a decent film, provided that you take it for what it is, rather than what it isn't. If you go in expecting an extensive debate on the morality of sexuality you will be very disappointed. If you go into this film expecting a perspective you may not have seen before on an issue it seems too afraid to tackle then you will be right at home.