The lack of an apostrophe in the title Summer of 69 (now streaming on Hulu) tips us off: This is a sex comedy, not a period piece (nor a direct Bryan Adams reference). Then again, if there’s no actual sex in a movie, only sexual references, is it technically a “sex comedy”? We may need to consult the panel of judges for an answer. Either way, our protagonist here is a high-schooler played by Sam Morelos (That ’90s Show) who contends with her Sixteen Candlesesque crush on a classmate by getting a crash course on sex from a stripper played by SNL’s Chloe Fineman. The film is the directorial debut from Jillian Bell, who you’ll recognize as a character actor and scene-stealer from many films and TV series, here co-scripting (with Liz Nico and Jules Byrne) an old story of teen horniness with just enough of a fresh twist to make it modestly charming.

The Gist: Max (Matt Cornett) has beautiful blue eyes, Han Solo hair, a great smile and he remembers that Abby (Morelos) likes gummy worms on her cherry ice cream, so he calls her Cherry Worms. It’s the latter bit that matters the most. Abby’s been stammering out her order at the ice cream stand for god knows how long now, daydreaming about boyfriending the living shit out of Max as he wields the scoop once again. Oh jeez. Hormones, right? And her no-chance-whatsoever life arc thus far becomes so-you’re-telling-me-there’s-a-chance when she learns that the bossy girl who planted her flag in Max way back in elementary school is out of his romantic picture. As she always does, she consults the school mascot for advice – he knows all and sees all, it seems – and he dishes that Max is wayyyyyy into 69ing with the ladies. You know, spooning, but flipped, and exclusively naked. That leaves Abby with a self-imposed mandate: “If I 69 Max, I’m his ho fo sho.”

This isn’t an impossible task, mind you. It’s not like climbing Everest. But it’s a challenge for Abby, a socially awkward homebody whose interactions with other humans are mostly online, where she’s AbbyCadaver, a zombie-masked gamer who livestreams to a subscriber base that’s large enough for her to afford to put $5k down on some 69ing lessons from the hottest exotic dancer in town. And that would be Santa Monica (Fineman), who really needs the cash in order to buy the Diamond Dolls strip club from her boss Betty Spaghetti (the never not funny Paula Pell) and keep the business out of the hands of handsy sleazebag Rick Richards (Charlie Day). Yes, you noticed the character names, and the origin story of the “Betty Spaghetti” moniker is funny (and somewhat horrifying) enough to make up for the fact that goofy character names are more often than not a signifier of a comedically desperate movie. Be grateful that Summer of 69 is one of the movies that’s not that.

Anyway. Abby’s parents are gone for a spell, thus opening the door for Santa Monica to overcharge this dumb kid for pole-dancing lessons, trips to the adult toy store and deep film study of the Tom Cruise bottomless-dance sequence in Risky Business. “A week with me and I’ll teach you how to pull off a facade of confidence,” Santa Monica assures Abby, who replies, “I’d rather it not be a facade.” And so Abby climbs atop her mom’s CPR training doll and promptly kicks its head off. She needs some work. And what begins as a business exchange becomes an unusual friendship, because not only do frank discussions about sex lead to emotional intimacy, but it turns out the hottest exotic dancer in town could use a friend herself. 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The John Hughes and Judd Apatow/Superbad teen-comedy lineage continues with Summer of 69, which takes a few tonal cues from Booksmart, riffs on a conceit similar to No Hard Feelings and feasts on the desperation of hundreds of teen virgins in movies ranging from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to American Pie.

Performance Worth Watching: Witness a nice little breakout role here from Morelos, who proves more than capable of headlining a mediumweight comedy, and injecting it with enough heart to make it matter.

Memorable Dialogue: Wisdom, Santa Monica-style: “Most guys don’t know your clitter from your shitter.”

Sex and Skin: Again, no actual sex in this sex comedy. 

Our Take: You just might find yourself going awww at the blossoming Santa Monica/Abby friendship in between jokes about vulva bruising and vibrators. Just because there’s no sex in a movie doesn’t mean it can’t be thick with verbal raunch, you know. And while Summer of 69 clings to tried-and-true cliches of the genre – sad-sack sexless protagonist, break up/make up plot, big speech at the end – there’s just enough meat on the characters’ bones to make the film a smidge more substantive than, oh, I dunno, Porky’s XI: The Incel Years or something.

Somewhat ingeniously, Bell gently nudges the film from being a ratatat joke machine to a parallel narrative addressing cross-generational insecurities: Abby eventually learns that virginity at age 17 isn’t a death sentence. And Santa Monica’s upcoming 10-year class reunion – she dreads it, of course – finds her reflecting on her life, and realizing that being a small business owner would give her some much-needed personal and professional agency. Many viewers will find something to relate to here. Bell clearly understands the tonal mechanics of comedy, and shows enough visual acumen (a lengthy oner navigating a raging teen kegger is another cliche, but it’s well-executed) to elevate the film a notch above other streaming fodder. By no means does Bell outdo Hughes or Apatow, but Summer of 69 is an encouraging debut, and an endearing refinement of the genre. 

Our Call: Summer of 69 balances the spicy and sweet quite nicely. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.