Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Year I Started Masturbating’ on Netflix, A Raucous Romp About Discovering Pleasure

There’s truth in advertising: The Year I Started Masturbating (now on Netflix) is in fact about its protagonist’s discovery of self-stimulation. But that year in her life might not be what you think. This is a story about a late bloomer, at least in terms of sexuality for its own satisfaction, and how certain pleasures can be transferable.

THE YEAR I STARTED MASTURBATING: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: In the opening credits, Hannah bops around Sweden as happy as ScarJo in that widely memed dance clip from Marriage Story. That bliss quickly comes to a screeching halt as she comes home from the office to find that her workaholism has left her marriage in shambles. In response, she quits her job rather than take a promotion that would send her traveling extensively to international film festivals. Later, her husband openly flirts with a hospital nurse after a scooter accident, and when she confronts him about it, he responds by kicking her out. On the eve of her 40th birthday, no less!

After one dispiriting post-couples therapy fight, a friend encourages her to begin listening to the urges emanating from between her legs. Only when she chooses to “prioritize the pussy” can she begin to put her needs in a place that is meant to suit her can Hannah begin to pull herself out of the rut. But before she can get to the pleasure, there’s going to have to be some pain — and awkwardness.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: While Hanna has clearly had sex before the events of the movie, being a mother and all, the easiest point of comparison is The 40-Year-Old Virgin given their shared interest in comedically chronicling the travails of a late bloomer. (There’s maybe a little bit of shared Nordic DNA with The Worst Person in the World, too.)

Performance Worth Watching: Katia Winter as Hanna is really quite a great leading lady. She’s got that bright smile that could light up a town but a real self-effacing quality that makes her struggles feel more real. It’s a real talent to feel both larger-than-life and one of us like she does.

Memorable Dialogue: “You are a prime example of how worn your hair and skin get if you don’t masturbate enough,” Hanna gets told at a pizza parlor by a concerned friend. “You’ve been given a total amusement park and you’ve been wasting it.”

Sex and Skin: What do you expect in a movie with this title? Of course! While the couple’s first foreplay stalls when Hanna mentions wanting another baby, there’s little such inhibition when she becomes a liberated woman. Her first major hookup doesn’t show much action, but there’s some good humor from how much skin they show in front of the family hosting Hanna once they wake up. There’s plenty of sex and skin here, though none of it is as titillating as the sexually frank title might suggest.

Our Take: For a while at the start, co-writer/director Erika Wasserman seems to get her rocks off on making Hanna suffer. But that cruel parade of misfortune just proves a necessary evil to make her joy in experiencing, say, orgasms all the more fun to watch when the film’s stylization comes out in full force. The Year I Started Masturbating has one genuinely laugh-out-loud moment that’s a real comedic centerpiece moment, and plenty of other solid jokes, too.

The journey toward a vaguely defined “self-love” can be a bit contrived, as can its efforts to extend the meaning of the film beyond Hanna’s singular experience. When the film starts to tackle the divide between who gets to openly display pleasure and who doesn’t, it’s intriguing but unfulfilled. Wasserman clearly feels more comfortable in the personal rather than the political realm, but all the same, there’s something radical in Hanna’s realization she just wants to be mediocre as her grand point of satisfaction.

Our Call: STREAM IT! While a bit slight at times, The Year I Started Masturbating does coital-related comedy right. The humor is strong enough to elicit an at-home laugh, which is quite an accomplishment. And even if you feel like Hanna’s journey of self-discovery through sexuality is one you feel you’ve seen before, star Katia Winter can still make it feel refreshing and new enough.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

Watch The Year I Started Masturbating on Netflix