Vertical Entertainment has snagged U.S. rights to Karen Maine’s “Yes, God, Yes.” Described by its writer-director as “a love story between one woman and her vagina,” the coming-of-age pic stars “Stranger Things'” Natalia Dyer and made its world premiere at this year’s SXSW, where it took home a Special Jury Award for its ensemble cast. Deadline first reported the acquisition.
“Yes, God, Yes” tells the story of a teenage girl discovering the joys of masturbation — but also feeling guilty and ashamed of her new favorite hobby.
“My protagonist lives in a conservative town in the Midwest and has been raised Catholic for 16 years, so she’s been taught masturbation is a sin and something she should repent and regret,” Maine told us.
The filmmaker explained, “I wanted to make a coming-of-age film focused on female self pleasure. Many films that explore young women coming of age feature partnered sex, which is often depicted as painful and not very much fun. While that is a legitimate narrative,” she acknowledged, “young women are also exploring their own bodies for the first time at this age, but because there’s a lingering stigma around female sexuality it’s rarely portrayed on screen, even though the same narrative about young men has been shown in film and TV for a very long time. So I wanted to make a film about the female experience in the hopes that female sexual pleasure will become a bigger part of the conversation.”
“Yes, God, Yes” marks Maine’s feature directorial debut. She co-wrote Jenny Slate-starrer “Obvious Child.”
“We’re so excited to have the opportunity to share ‘Yes, God, Yes’ with the world, and couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Vertical, whose enthusiasm and passion for the film matches our own,” said Maine in a statement. “Our film is for everyone who’s ever been told that they should be ashamed of their sexuality, or that they should feel guilty for wanting to explore their desires. It’s the kind of film I wish I could have seen as a young girl growing up Catholic in the Midwest.”
Dyer plays Nancy Wheeler on “Stranger Things.” The sci-fi smash has been renewed for a fourth season on Netflix with a premiere date TBA. Dyer’s other credits include “Velvet Buzzsaw” and “I Believe in Unicorns.”
