Movie Review: Girls’ Night Out

By Richelle Charkot

Nearly 14 million women in America binge drink 3 times per month. Photo Credit: White Pine Pictures

It is perhaps a little too appropriate that I’m writing this review of Girls’ Night Out with an upset stomach because I’m growing more concerned that I might be allergic to beer, in spite of the fact that I for some reason keep going out and drinking beer.

This film follows true tales of drinking in excess, through the eyes of young women who have later decided that the cost of binging is far less than the reward of feeling detached from the societal pressures that women face. The doc pointedly attacks the idea of the glamorization of drinking through pop culture (such as in television shows like Sex and the City), and furthermore discusses rape culture and how dangerous it can be to be too drunk in bar settings.

Although Girls’ Night Out has a fairly clear positive message that women owe more to themselves than the escapism that blackout drinking provides, there are moments that feel a little problematic and shaming. This is especially apparent when the women discuss the concept of consent, and how much inherent inward pain the women put on themselves for agreeing to be sexually active with people who they otherwise would not when sober.

Does this imply that it’s their fault because they drank too much? Does that not continue the psychological spiral that women have to deal with almost every day of their lives due to societal pressure? Although at times the intimate doc does feel problematic, it has such a wide array of people speaking about binge-drinking, that different opinions are raised throughout; most importantly, one woman most says very clearly that it is not the job of women to monitor their drinking, it’s the job of men to not. rape.

Girls’ Night Out is a heartfelt analysis of something to which most young people dedicate a phase of their lives, especially those in college or university atmospheres. This is not a light watch, but instead a jarring series of stories that puts into perspective how much we should stop writing off the Mr. Hyde traits that come out when we’ve drank too much.

Also, I really need to stop drinking beer.

Girls’ Night Out premieres on CBC on February 25 at 9 p.m. ET/9:30 p.m. NT and will be followed by a Live Online Town Hall panel.

Richelle Charkot writes for Rue Morgue and is a film programmer for The MUFF Society and Retropath, which will be screening William Castle’s 1959 film The Tingler at The Royal Cinema in Toronto on February 26.