Bang Gang: The Two Sides of Sex

"It all felt appropriately apocalyptic."

Eva Husson's directorial debut Bang Gang seeks to portray a world of transformation. Innocence becomes sinfulness, deep friendships become strained rivalries, physical intimacy becomes lustful indulgence. All of this seen through the eyes of its various young protagonists, of which the film has in great numbers. Indeed, it can be hard to pin down who the main character is or what the film's focus is; it is confused... much in the same way that the titular "Bang Gangs" confuse those who participate in them. Amidst the mass of these drug-fueled orgies arise confusion, heartache, and a heaping of violent self-discovery.

We see these transformations most clearly through the lens of the film's primary narrative tool: sex. The "sex" in this movie is never gratuitous and usually featured only in brief segments that highlight either the intimacy of those who experience it or the indifference suffered by those same individuals. In the opening sequence of the movie, we witness the same Bang Gang featured during the film's climax, not coincidentally also the final Bang Gang chronologically. These Bang Gangs are little more than an excuse for the various teenagers in a French neighborhood to engage in some old-fashioned sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll in a communal environment, allegedly free from judgement and all about having as much fun as they can. At the beginning, we become privy to the fun, freeing aspect of this Bang Gang - their ability to bring together people who normally can't connect, especially Laetitia who has a more than friendly obsession with her friend George.

Laetitia's obsession with George manifests in many different ways throughout the film, first with innocent romantic interest as Laetitia ogles her with the eyes of a turtle dove. However, she begins to drift from George when she sees her sleep with Alex, who had referred to her as ugly. Almost as vengeance - and in a confused state - Laetitia sleeps with Alex, which in turn causes George to initiate the first Bang Gang orgy out of pure spite. The contrast is obvious: Alex sleeping with Laetitia is innocent but unemotional, while the Bang Gang happening concurrently is lustful and emotional. As the film goes on, this shifts.

The main catalyst is the character of Gabriel, who has a crush on George, much like Laetitia. However, Gabriel chooses not to participate in the Bang Gangs, instead opting to enjoy himself in ways more true to himself, such as going to private rave parties. He is also considerably responsible in spite of momentary hesitations, such as helping his disabled father take a bath - in stark contrast to the duty-shirking characters who participate in the Bang Gangs. Gabriel's lack of interest in the Bang Gangs makes Laetitia confused, but Gabriel informs her that it is because he believes that sex should be something that is infused with love, not unfocused emotion.

Gabriel's reluctance to join in the revelries of his cohorts eventually places him in a much more advantageous position when the climax of the film begins and the Bang Gangs become a much more distant, unemotional affair. It's clear that everyone embroiled in these orgies are only doing so out of social pressure, the same social pressure that Gabriel nobly ignores. This drive to fit in, especially for Laetitia and George, causes the whole of those who participated in these parties to develop sexual transmitted diseases. George, in particular, not only receives a type of syphilis but also has footage of her having sex with multiple boys posted online. The sex is no longer just for fun and revelry, it has become dangerous and unethical. The entire school is forced to participate in tests for STD, with one character even grimly trying to rationalize that even if he got AIDS, it wouldn't kill him because of advances in medicine.

Meanwhile, it's clear that George is suffering the most. Laetitia, her best friend, has been stripped from her life because of a stupid decision brought upon by sleeping with Alex, which in turn caused her to initiate a nearly schoolwide orgy session that gave her an STD and plastered her naked body all over the internet. The embarrassment and ridicule she accrued was devastating; it was only through the help of Gabriel that things begin to get better for her, which coincides with one of the thematic through lines of the movie.

During the "summer of love" that these Bang Gangs happened in, trains were constantly being derailed due to melting tracks and old people were dying of heat stroke. Throughout the film, we would hear news reports about death tolls and the amount of damage being caused. It creates an air of melancholy, of waiting for something terrible to happen. As Gabriel puts it, "It all felt appropriately apocalyptic." When the Bang Gangs stop, so too do the train derailments. Gabriel's "saving" of George from her previously horrid fate, first by confronting the one who posted the video to remove it and then by going with her as she moves out of her parents house, causes the so-called "apocalypse" to end. Gabriel's whole character arc mirrors the two sides of sex that we see in the film, first by being detached and unconnected to being intimate and in love with George. As such, Gabriel undergoes the opposite experience of what everyone else has wrought upon themselves. His viewpoint on sex saves him the social ostracization and emotional destruction that Laetitia and Alex are forced to endure.

In the end, we see a final scene of lovemaking from George and Gabriel, which demonstrates the two contrasting portrayal of sex that this film extensively displays. After so much detached, unemotional sex with multiple people, George has decided to cast off the binds of that lack of intimacy, instead of opting for real intimacy with Gabriel. George has stepped into Gabriel's world, finally free from societal judgment and open to explore herself in ways that truly make her happy. As if to communicate this message further, the film's closing credits are displayed over artful, metaphoric images of the cast's naked forms as they run down an open stretch of road.

Bang Gang does not condemn sex, but it shows how dangerous it can be when the act isn't given the proper dignity that it deserves. It requires communication, emotion, and real intimacy in order to keep it safe and enjoyable, instead of just a needless distraction brought upon by social mores and the need to fit in.