Yes, God, Yes Movie Storyline. It is the fall of 2000. Alice is a sexually inexperienced but curious junior at a strict Midwestern co-ed Catholic high school, where Father Murphy instructs her Morality class that any sexual activity not aimed toward procreation within a heterosexual marriage is a sin, with eternal damnation as punishment. She struggles with accepting her burgeoning feelings of sexual desire after both Father Murphy and her best friend, Laura, cause her to feel ashamed of them.
The following Monday, the school is abuzz with a rumor that Alice “tossed the salad” of a classmate, Wade, at Laura’s party over the weekend. Alice denies this, admitting to not knowing what the phrase means. The rumor reaches Mrs. Veda, who prevents Alice from serving at Mass. Later that day, during the sacrament of reconciliation, Alice confesses venial sins to Father Murphy and receives a light penance of twenty prayers, which she immediately and fervently fulfills in the school chapel, Father Murphy and Mrs. Veda’s words about sex echoing in her mind.
Alice and Laura both decide to attend the school’s next “Kirkos” retreat—Alice to return to the path of righteousness, and Laura to be accepted by Nina, a popular senior. When they arrive on the retreat campgrounds, Laura is excited to find that Nina is a retreat leader, while Alice eyes Chris, a hunky senior who is also a retreat leader. Chris is friendly and enthusiastic, and after Alice is assigned to his group, the two begin to bond. That night, while playing on her contraband cell phone, Alice accidentally discovers that she can pleasure herself using her phone’s vibrating feature; however, she stops soon after looking at the crucifix hanging in her room.
On the second day of the retreat, Alice fakes an injury on a hike to get closer to Chris. Nina confiscates Alice’s phone; and, as a punishment, Father Murphy assigns Alice to cleaning duties around the retreat house. Once she is alone, she logs onto an AOL chat room from Father Murphy’s office computer to ask what “tossing salad” means; before she can find out, the sound of footsteps causes her to hastily shut off the computer and leave. She runs into Nina, who lightheartedly guilts Alice about Alice’s presumed sexual encounter with Wade, another instance of Alice’s inability to be free of the rumor even while “on Jesus’s time.”
Yes, God, Yes is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer. It is Maine’s directorial debut, based on her 2017 short film of the same name also starring Dyer. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 8, 2019. It was released in selected drive-in theaters and virtual cinemas on July 24, 2020, before launching digitally and on video on demand on July 28, 2020. The film was made available on Netflix on October 22, 2020.
Yes, God, Yes (2020)
Directed by: Karen Maine
Starring: Natalia Dyer, Timothy Simons, Wolfgang Novogratz, Francesca Reale, Susan Blackwell, Parker Wierling, Alisha Boe, Donna Lynne Champlin, Carey Van Driest, Gabriella Garcia
Screenplay by: Karen Maine
Production Design by: Sally Levi
Cinematography by: Todd Antonio Somodevilla
Film Editing by: Jennifer Lee
Costume Design by: Brittany Loar
Set Decoration by: Samantha LaRoe McDonald
Music by: Ian Hultquist
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content and some nudity.
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: March 8, 2019 (SXSW), July 24, 2020 (United States)
Views: 25
