Common Sense Media Review
By Sandie Angulo Chen
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Singh's uneven comedy is crass but sex positive.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Doin' It
What's the Story?
In DOIN' IT, Maya (Lilly Singh) is a 30-something computer scientist who returns to the United States after spending much of her young adulthood in India, where she and her mother fled when a teenage Maya's humiliating sexual encounter with a boy went public. Now hoping to launch her own app, Maya is struggling to secure funding and so reluctantly takes a job teaching sex ed at a local high school. Because she's still a virgin, she feels completely ignorant about the subject, but she's determined to succeed. She decides to skip the district-mandated abstinence-only curriculum in favor of a more sex-positive set of lessons about pleasure, consent, self-exploration, and contraception. Along the way, Maya navigates cultural expectations, awkward lessons, and the challenges of talking openly about sex and relationships, particularly once colleagues and parents start to question—and threaten—her ultra-candid teaching methods. Meanwhile, Maya's best friend, Jess (Sabrina Jalees), pushes her to embrace the teenage experiences she missed growing up abroad.
Is It Any Good?
This raunchy comedy in the vein of The 40-Year-Old Virgin meets American Pie is well-meaning but derivative. Doin' It's setup seems promising, offering a fresh gender flip on familiar sex-comedy themes. And it occasionally mines laughs from Maya's general awkwardness, the generational gap between teacher and students (she learns as much from them as they do from her), and her attempts to take charge of her own sexuality. The supporting cast is funny, particularly Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz as a boundary-crossing school cafeteria manager, and a short but memorable turn by Utkarsh Ambudkar as Maya's teen crush.
But while the film, written and directed by Sara Zandieh, touches on relevant themes, the positive messages are obscured by cringe-inducing gags and recycled jokes—not to mention an utterly unbelievable classroom environment in which it takes far too long for parents to revolt against the curriculum. The screenplay ultimately reduces Maya's journey to broad slapstick rather than meaningful character development. And attempts to balance Doin' It's raunchier comedy bits with heartfelt themes don't land well. By the time a monstrously large prosthetic penis makes an appearance, it's difficult to take anything seriously. Singh is a charismatic comedic performer, but the movie never fully commits to being either an outrageous teen comedy or a grown-up exploration of a delayed coming-of-age. The result is a watchable but uneven movie that doesn't live up to its premise.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Doin' It depicts the role of media in learning about healthy sexual relationships. Do you think Maya's app would be successful in real life?
Why is it important to have open conversations about sex, relationships, and consent? How do the characters in the movie model (or fail to model) that?
How does the movie portray cultural differences in the way that different families talk about sex and relationships? How are Maya's experiences shaped by her background?
What role do parents and/or teachers play in helping teens learn about sex ed? What do you think of the lessons in the movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters : September 19, 2025
- On DVD or streaming : September 19, 2025
- Cast : Lilly Singh , Stephanie Beatriz , Jessica Clement
- Director : Sara Zandieh
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Bisexual Movie Actor(s) , Indian/South Asian Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Writer(s) , Indian/South Asian Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Aura Entertainment
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship , School ( High School )
- Run time : 92 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 10, 2025
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