Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of not Living

This morning Etienne (Etienne Assal) and his three friends pooled the money to pay for a sex worker and are about to have intercourse for the first time. As they make their journey to achieve this goal, the teenagers cover up their nervousness with bragging, bravado, bickering and non-stop banter, sparing no passersby in their merciless mockery. Yet although most of their quips go unchallenged, the gang do not remain entirely uninterrupted, as the film reveals via voiceover monologues the inner fears, longings and doubts of many of the secondary characters, as well as disclosing to us what their fate has in store for them. In this manner, George Peter Barbari’s debut film offers a compelling deconstruction of the myth that surrounds this masculine rite of passage.