From the creator, writer and star of Golden Globe award winning series, Girls Lena Dunham now introduces a bold and pleasantly uncomfortable comedy, SHARP STICK.
The film follows the journey of Sarah Jo [Kristine Froseth], a 26-year-old naïve virgin who is on the brink of self-discovery. She lives in Hollywood with her peculiar mother and self-absorbed sister [Taylour Paige] with a deep desire to be seen and loved. She initiates an affair with her older employer [Jon Bernthal] which thrusts her into a new exploration of sexuality, loss, and power.
On Monday, July 25 Utopia hosted Dunham’s directorial and acting return with the premiere of SHARP STICK at the historic theater, Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles. The event brought out cast members Jon Bernthal, Taylour Paige, Scott Speedman, Liam Michael Saux and Luka Sabbat and additional guests including Top Gun: Maverick star Lewis Pullman, directors Spike Jonze and Gia Coppola, The New Mutants star Blu Hunt and filmmaker TT the Artist. Pre screening guests and castmates mingled in the intimate café setting before diving into the mind of Dunham. The creation of the film derived in the Summer of 2020, in the heart of Covid where Dunham had time to rewatch films that have shaped her skills as a director. In doing so, it reminded her of certain topics and issues that she previously addressed and currently feels differently about, specifically regarding narratives surrounding women and how their sexuality was portrayed. “I started meditating on that, thinking about those films, thinking about the ways that I had contributed, maybe even to depictions of sex in the past that didn’t make sense to me anymore,” Dunham shared.
A post Q&A session was moderated by Utopia founder Robert Schwartzman followed by a reception that featured a condom bar sponsored by CHAMP and sex positive gift bags featuring Unbound Babes, CHAMP and Momotaro. The gift bags were the perfect treat to celebrate a highly sex conscious film, a film that even cast members were slightly perplexed by. “A script comes along, a person comes along and a part where I didn’t really understand it at first and I talked to Lena [Dunham] about it and she really focused me on a new way of thinking about a porn star and I was like, oh yeah, that would be kind of fun to do,” stated Speedman.
SHARP STICK will be releasing in select theaters on July 29, 2022.
