"Turn Me On, Dammit!" is an "American Pie" for horny teenage girls

Turn Me On, Dammit!, a new, offbeat Norwegian sex comedy set to hit theaters on March 30, deals with adolescent female sexuality in a way you rarely see on film, despite the glut of male-centered teen sex comedies like Superbad and the American Pie series, which are a dime a dozen. The film has received excellent reviews, and won awards for Best Screenplay at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Debut Film at the Rome Film Festival.

The movie revolves around fifteen-year-old Alma (played by seventeen-year-old Helene Bergsholm), whose out-of-control libido leads to her being shunned by her schoolmates and small Norwegian village. Yes, The Scarlet Letter is the operative analogy here. (Alma not-so-subtly wears red throughout the movie.) Alma daydreams about a handsome classmate named Arthur, who, in a pivotal scene, performs a lewd action that leads to Alma's sullied reputation. She also runs up her single mother's phone bill by making expensive calls to a male phone-sex worker named Stig.

The film is refreshing in that it features an empowered female protagonist who stays true to herself, while remaining unaffected by all the slut-shaming going on. Turn Me On, Dammit! was directed by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen, who adapted the screenplay from the novel by Olang Nissen. More movies like this are needed to counteract the soft misogyny of Hollywood.

Turn Me On, Dammit! trailer