THIRSTYGIRL (2024)

-Written by Kyle Bain. 

2024 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!

On a roadtrip with her sister, Nic (Claire Makenzie), the sex-addicted Charlie (Samantha Ahn) struggles to control her urges and hide them from those around her. As she navigates her own internal struggles she becomes aware of the fact that the things surrounding her (i.e. her family) are far more important than she once believed. This THIRSTYGIRL will have to face the facts before it’s too late. 

When you think of addiction you likely think of drugs and alcohol–but the reality is that there are more than twenty-million people struggling with sex addiction at any given time in the United States. And, like the former, sex addiction can become troublesome for those suffering from it. Charlie is the embodiment of that struggle–and while she does a brilliant job in her role, it’s up to the filmmakers to ensure that THIRSTYGIRL hits all the right notes and appeals to both viewers that have experienced these struggles and those that haven’t.

Tonally, THIRSTYGIRL is spot on, capturing just the right emotion at any given moment throughout its short, nine-minute runtime. In nine minutes viewers see Charlie experience euphoria, depression, and full-on emotional collapse. Writer-Director Alexandra Qin sees her main character and viewers experience the gamut of emotions throughout the course of her film, and it takes an extreme level of expertise in order to accomplish this at the level that she does. Nearly every second of THIRSTYGIRL forces viewers to experience deep emotional trauma, and there’s nearly nothing that viewers can do (short of avoiding the film altogether) to avoid this hard-hitting emotion. This is a testament to many aspects of the filmmaking process, and many of the individuals tasked with bringing this film to life–and it’s clear that Qin had a clear vision when she began constructing this script. Whether or not her vision came to life exactly as planned, I’m not entirely sure–but the reality is that what eventually came to screen is brilliant. 

THIRSTYGIRL employs a handful of montage techniques to help expand on Charlie’s condition–and they are massively effective. We are pulled into Charlie’s mind, afforded the opportunity to see and hear what she might at any given moment, and it successfully connects us with this character throughout the film’s entirety. 

Furthermore, there is more hiding beneath the surface of this narrative than initially meets the eye. It’s clear that THIRSTYGIRL is Charlie’s story, that it’s her struggles that we are meant to focus on–but there is far more to this story than that, and it’s not until the closing moments in which we are presented this knowledge. In those moments, what was once shining brightly fades to darkness, enveloping us in more emotion than we can handle. Through this use of light, if it were even possible, we are pulled further into the story–closer to Charlie and Nic. Again Qin displays her expertise as she uses juxtapositional light to tell this story and to greatly appeal to viewers. 

THIRSTYGIRL is a highly-emotional film that leans heavily on said emotion to tell its story. Qin is the one in charge of this film–from developing its script to ensuring that everyone else is effective as she sits in the director’s chair, she is the one that ultimately has final say over all that comes to be. She’s brilliant in her role, bringing to life incredible emotion, gripping characters, and a story that is sure to appeal to a wide-range of audiences. THIRSTYGIRL hits all the right notes, capturing viewers attention from the opening moments through to its final seconds. THIRSTYGIRL is all that you could hope for and more. 

Written & Directed by Alexandra Qin. 

Starring Samantha Ahn, Claire Makenzie, David Eves, Joe Leitess, & Josh Riley. 

8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING