Tara’s friends’ reactions and actions throughout the film show two binaries: Em is concerned about the whereabouts of Tara when she goes missing, while Skye is more concerned about her chances with the boys. It’s an accurate portrayal of the wide experiences of teenage girls as they come into themselves, and the mistakes made in young adulthood.

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It’s not until the end that Tara’s friends become aware of what has happened, in a harrowing scene between Tara and Em that is artfully seen through a kaleidoscope of mirrors in an airport shopping centre. The film’s conclusion is open-ended. There are no repercussions suggested for the perpetrator, as is often the case in real life, but there’s also a deflating feeling in knowing what Tara has gone through, and that she must handle it on her own.

How to Have Sex is a coming-of-age film of the zeitgeist, capturing the moment where young girls enter womanhood without a backwards glance, and the hard truths about life that become apparent at this age. It’s often powerful and wrenching, but its violence sometimes feels gratuitous and its message is one that is ubiquitous in the pop culture of today. Tara’s story is sadly common, but Manning Walker doesn’t say anything particularly new on the topic.

Still, it’s a point worth making, and there is a lot to admire in the film. Unfortunately, as with many films of this kind, it’s likely that those watching it already know, intimately, its message – and those who need to see it most likely won’t.