Movie Recommendation: The First Time

Full disclosure (because I can’t lie to you guys): my primary motivation for watching this film was to see Dylan O’Brien.  There, I said it!  Judge me if you must, but it doesn’t make it any less true.  But know this…I am not writing this article now to gush about how hot Dylan is and that that’s the reason you should watch this movie.  Oh nay nay, my readers, my motivation for writing this article is to tell you about a special little film that asks which is more important: the first time you have sex or the first time you actually connect with someone?

The movie takes place during the span of one weekend.  When it begins, we meet our two protagonists Dave (Dylan O’Brien) and Aubrey (Britt Robertson) right off the bat.  Dave is pacing in an alley outside a party, practicing a speech he has written in order to woo the girl he has a crush on, Jane.  Aubrey stumbles on Dave practicing and they begin talking.  The dialogue in this movie kind of reminded me of Dawson’s Creek, that very fast-paced way of speaking, and there were a couple moments where I shouted at the TV, “Just shut up!”  Aubrey in particular had a few moments where she just seemed to be over thinking the situation at hand.  But that aside, the two main stars had great chemistry and their characters had great moments where you could sense their mutual attraction for each other was based on of something besides sex (although that did factor in later on in the film).  One such great moment was at the movie theater.  The two of them were sitting out in the lobby, and Aubrey told him one of the things she wanted to do when she graduated was travel.  Then she told this amazing story about getting lost while she was overseas in Europe.  She talked about being so scared at first in this huge city by herself and how her mind began making all these leaps about having to be a homeless girl and how she would survive, and during the midst of her panic, she was missing all of these amazing sights.  But once she calmed down and began to look around her, she wasn’t afraid anymore.  If I had to choose a scene in this movie to be my favorite, it would be that scene hands down.

I don’t want to give away the entire movie, but this being that kind of sappy teen romance, of course Dave and Aubrey get together in the end but naturally encounter some conflict before this can happen.  Because what, I ask you, is any self-respecting rom-com without a little angsty conflict?  And this is where my question from the introduction factors in because these two teens have this undeniable emotional connection which gets jeopardized when sex is added to the equation.  In the scene, Dave has brought Aubrey this giant box of old magazines for her collages and one thing leads to another and badabing badaboom, they have sex.  And it’s both of their first times, so they don’t know what the hell they’re doing and it’s less than impressive.  Dave slides into “dick move” world for like ten seconds when he resorts to the old “Well vaginas are much more complex than penises so maybe it’s your fault that it sucked” cliché.  But he got put in his place in the next scene by his friend Big Corporation (it’s a football thing).  Dave is bemoaning his situation and how he totally screwed things up, and his friend Simon tells him to just let it go.  But Big Corporation is the real deal.  He calls out both his friends, telling Dave that he seemed to really like this girl and has the potential of starting something great with her and yet he is going to let something as trivial as sex ruin that chance.  That was probably my second favorite scene for that message alone.

We live in such an over-sexualized culture where sex is deemed as the only form of showing one’s affection and those who haven’t had it yet are people to be pitied or ridiculed.  Aubrey’s jaded view of her own virginity, where she didn’t seem to care if she lost it to her man-child douchebag of a boyfriend Ronnie, saddened me.  I don’t hold to the conservative point of view where sex is only something that should be shared between two married people, but I do believe that when it comes to your first time, it should be with someone you have genuine feelings for, and when you’re ready to actually have sex.  Having sex did these two teens no favors and almost led to the premature demise of their relationship, regardless of the connection they shared.  But they didn’t let that happen, thus our sappy happy ending.

As I said before, Dylan and Britt did an amazing job in this movie.  They had fantastic chemistry, and scenes of both the emotional and physical kind had great zing to them.  Dave’s two friends Simon and Big Corporation did great jobs as well, Simon, despite being a turd at times, providing me with more than a couple laughs.  The little girl playing Dave’s sister was adorable and made me wish Stiles had one on Teen Wolf because he was really great with her.  Overall, the entire cast did a great job, which always makes for a pleasant movie-going experience.  If I had to rate this movie, I’d probably give it three and a half to four stars.  If you’re a Dylan O’Brien fan (and you need to see him in something where he isn’t being mentally torn to shreds), I definitely recommend this movie.

So what are your thoughts on “The First Time”?  What were your favorite moments, and what did you take away when the film ended?  This would be the perfect kind of movie for a date night.  Comment below with your thoughts and as always, thank you for reading!

Author: Sarah Sue

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