Review of Turn Me On, Dammit! (2011) by Christopher N — 02 Dec 2012

Turn Me On. Dammit! oozes originality. An Off-kilter Norwegian comedy set on exploring sexuality from the unique perspective of a libido-driven, 15-year-old girl. The Scandinavian teen, Alma suffers from an over-active sex drive. An ailment that those around her find peculiar, and one she can't subdue. Her respite comes in the form of expensive "sex telephone" lines, porn, and daylight fantasies. But Alma longs tangibility, she longs for the real thing.

The naive way in which Alma explains her first half-sexual encounter to her friends ("he poked me with his dick") only for those friends to spread jealous rumours, leading to school-wide ridicule, should resonate with many a past student; and manages to highlight the film's knack for creating surreal yet relatable scenarios out of an outlandish premise. A feat it achieves while avoiding the trap of overly precocious adolescent characters.

Through a deft balance of wry wit, bizzarre excursions, and warming character moments; Turn Me On, Dammit! respectively examines an oft-ignored facet of youth culture-- the want for sex in young females. All without becoming some whacked-out, creepy, wish fulfilment sex exposà (C). NOT OPTIONAL.