Directed by: Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
Starring: Helene Bergsholm
Turn Me On, Dammit! is a Norwegian coming of age story about a small town girl named Alma who is overwhelmed with the desire to bang everything. She finds herself the laughing stock of the community after confessing that her childhood crush put his dick on her thigh (not kidding) at a party. He denies everything of course, and now Alma must find a way to restore her good name while still doing her best to contain her relentless restless horniness.
While the description suggests that there might be some really heavy themes going on with this film, that is definitely not the case. Turn Me On, Dammit! puts a more comedic and light-hearted spin on what might otherwise be a very serious matter. It eschews social justice by containing Alma’s problem into a quest, prompting her to solve everything herself. It’s a bold move for a small movie to avoid such social commentary; but if you ask me doing so was the right decision. Not every production has to be an ostentatious Hollywood affair. A small story comes as a relief sometimes, like comfort food.
Charm is the underlying heartbeat of this film. All of the characters feel normal and real; and the situation might bear some resemblance to things that really did happen in a small town out in the middle of nowhere somewhere. Helene Bergsholm does a great job emoting her frustrations and expressing her feelings as Alma the sexually frustrated deviant. Having grown up in a small town myself, I could certainly understand being in her situation would be rather difficult, one far worse than a voodoo shop curse the Wiccan witches could think of. And Alma is dignified in the face of things. She does what any smalltown girl might do, given the same situation. I wanted to see her succeed because I wanted to help and comfort her. She could not be blamed for anything.
Turn Me On, Dammit! is a fine film that contains a big problem comfortably within the confines of a small story. It is not overbearing, it is not pretentious, I’m not even sure if it is trying to say anything. It is a thing that is, and it aims to warm your heart by reminding us of the ways that we are human. Give it a go; it’s definitely not all in the poster.
ThomFiles 