Review: 'Yes, God, Yes' is a biting, funny comedy about a girl getting mixed messages about sex

If your screenplay can be pinpoint accurate about your setting, while also being emotionally universal, you will go far in the movie world — and Karen Maine shows in her Catholic-school comedy “Yes, God, Yes” that she can find the relatable in the specific.

It’s the ‘90s, and Alice (played by “Stranger Things” star Natalia Dyer) works to be a good girl — though her best friend Laura (Francesca Reale) knows Alice’s most sinful vice: Rewinding and rewatching the part of “Titanic” where Leo and Kate make out in the car with the steamed-up windows.

So when kids at her Catholic school gossip about her and a boy in class, Wade (Parker Wierling) — even though both know nothing happened — Alice’s reputation and self-esteem plummet. Her chance at redemption, so to speak, comes when she goes to a Catholic teen retreat for four days of walking in the woods, thinking about God, and listening to lessons from their trying-to-be-cool priest, Father Murphy (“Veep” star Timothy Simons).

But when Alice’s body is telling her one thing — especially when she’s near hunky quarterback Chris (Wolfgang Novogratz) — and her camp counselor Nina (Alisha Boe) is telling her something else, what’s a horny Catholic girl to do? And how does the vibrate function on her cellphone work into that?

Maine (who co-wrote the story that became the abortion romantic comedy “Obvious Child”) captures in excruciatingly funny detail the ins and outs of Catholic youth retreats of a certain era, from the barely submerged sexual tension to the awkward group discussion sessions. Through those culturally specific scenes, Maine also finds the yearning of every teen to make sense out of their hormonal urges when the supposed adults can’t get over their hang-ups long enough to provide honest answers.

Dyer, who looks like she could play high-schoolers until she’s 40 (she’s 25 now), shows some comedic chops as the confused teen undergoing her sexual awakening with no guide map. She gives “Yes, God, Yes” the spunk and warmth a coming-of-age story like this needs. 

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‘Yes, God, Yes’

★★★1/2

Available starting Friday, July 24, on virtual cinemas, including SLFS@Home. Rated R for sexual content and some nudity. Running time: 78 minutes.