I’ll admit to a certain amount of trepidation regarding new Australian feature My Year Without Sex.  Pitched as a comedy, the film quickly reveals itself to be one about a typical family living in suburbia, a subject I feel we’ve seen a little too much of in recent years. The story opens with a sex scene between parents Ross (played by Matt Day) and Natalie (Sacha Horler). The couple are soon interrupted by their children, the AFL fixated Louis and obligatory weird-but-still-cute daughter Ruby. It’s a gently funny moment but not exactly innovative comedy, an off start perhaps. I feared the worst.

Thankfully, I can happily report that my apprehension was in vain. Over the course of its ninety minutes, My Year Without Sex slowly develops an emotional tenor far in excess of its wacky title and comedic leanings. The story starts in earnest when Natalie suffers a brain aneurysm and is ordered by her doctors to avoid three things - lifting, stifling her sneezes and sex for year. Confronted by the illness and the threat of a recurrence, as well as a growing sense of financial turmoil (Ross is tenuously employed as a radio technician, Natalie is unable to work) and coupled with the pair’s growing sexual frustration, the family embark on a very understandable and seemingly unlucky year. As they struggle to comprehend what has happened to Natalie and its consequences, they take on the big questions and perils of ordinary life in Australia, the nature of family, love, class and work.

Yet far from a miserable story, the film steers its steady course without a hint of melodrama or excess. All of the main performances are excellent, Day and Horler are particularly fine in their roles as the shell-shocked couple. And writer/director Sarah Watt brings a deft, understated feel to the production; her script is witty but rings true throughout and her depiction of the Australian suburbs is a realistic one, treating the setting as neither a novelty nor a visual curiosity, a welcome change indeed. I also particularly liked the inclusion of Ross’s brother and his more affluent family. They, at times, accentuate the plight of Ross and Natalie but are likewise realistically depicted with care and warmth. 

Simply put, this is a film that concentrates on its core business: a family’s story. In doing so it achieves a great deal. The film’s themes of faith and hope (and what fuels each) feel organic and subtle in their delivery and while life’s more complex questions are investigated, they are always firmly tied to the minutiae of character and situation. In the end, the simplest dialogue becomes affecting here and a single conversation resolves much of the story. It happens quickly and with such clout that I found myself surprisingly touched by it.

Ultimately, My Year Without Sex succeeds. It is not a big film, nor a particularly fancy one, but it is rewarding and rich. I recommend it.

- Review by Ian Rogers

My Year Without Sex opens in Australian cinemas on May 28.
You can view the My Year Without Sex movie trailer here on TheVine.