Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Raunchy teen sex comedy has language, drinking, nudity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Hard Feelings
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In HARD FEELINGS, Charly (Tobias Schäfer) is an unpopular teen in the throes of puberty, endlessly mocked by classmates due to rumors of having a small penis. His best friend since kindergarten is Paula (Cosima Henman), and they're both ready to find a way to lose their virginity, despite their unpopularity. Things take a turn when they get hit by lightning while hanging out on the roof, and the next day, they both discover that their genitalia can now communicate with them. After an embarrassing moment with an erection goes viral but leads to social media influencers defending and championing Charly, Charly is now popular, with his genitalia "Willy" telling him to pursue popular mean girl Marlena, who expresses interest. Meanwhile, Paula's genitalia, aka "Hoo Ha," is trying to teach her how to masturbate and encourages her to pursue popular jock Constantin. After binge drinking at a party, Charly and Paula try to come to terms with what they experienced and must deal with the fallout from it. Together, they must find a way to lose their virginity -- the only way in which their genitalia will stop talking -- and confront the bullies who use shame as a weapon against everyone struggling with puberty.
Is It Any Good?
It's a different kind of teen sex comedy, but it's not really that different at all. Hard Feelings does try to convey thoughtful messages against body shaming during puberty and how much of what teens experience during puberty is perfectly natural, but these messages are most likely going to be drowned out by, say, images of a dog licking up the semen in a bedroom after a teen boy premature ejaculates, or scenes in which talking genitalia makes all manners of randy suggestions for ways in which the two lead characters can lose their virginity, to say nothing of the intense bullying these characters face at times, even leading to one of the characters attempting suicide.
The strong sexual content is also likely to drown out the fact that, unlike pretty much every other teen sex comedy, teen girls and women are allowed to be something more than mere sex objects for the boys to drool over. However, this too is likely to be overshadowed by the typical teen character types of "girl next door," "mean girls," "jock jerks" etc. In Freudian terms, this movie has some ego and superego, but these are overwhelmingly superseded by the id.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about teen sex comedies like Hard Feelings. How is this similar to and different from others you've seen?
Typically, teen sex comedies focus almost exclusively on teen boys and their intense sexual desires. How does this movie try to show some of what teen girls may experience and feel?
What were some of the positive messages of the movie? Do you think they come across as takeaways or are the messages likely to be drowned out by all the other moments of sexual content, poor choices, binge drinking, etc.?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : May 24, 2023
- Cast : Tobias Schäfer , Cosima Henman , Samirah Breuer
- Director : Granz Henman
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Multiracial Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : School ( High School )
- Run time : 102 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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