Ginger And Cinnamon

To lose or not to lose. That is the question for 14-year-old Megghy (Martina Merlino), who feels that virginity disbars her from the cool crowd.

She tricks her aunt Stefy (Stefania Montorsi) into accompanying her to the Greek island of Ios, which is overrun by hedonistic young things, who look as if they have absconded from a Club 18-30 beach compound.

Megghy is impetuous, spoilt, emotionally unfinished and, despite the puppy fat, awkwardly attractive. She has one of those personalities that steamrollers arguement and flattens discussion.

Stefy has just split up from her longtime boyfriend Andrea (Giampaolo Morelli) and is going through an I Hate Men phase. Unlike her niece, she has a working intellect, a razor -sharp tongue and little patience with flirty boys.

Andrea follows Stefy to the island, without her knowledge. Megghy meets him by chance, becomes infatuated and what might have been a menage-a-trois becomes an exercise in emotional rejection, leaving Megghy in pieces, Stefy dancing to Village People at the disco and Andrea sleeping alone in a tent.

Daniele Luchetti's film captures the desire for instant gratification and breathtaking ignorance of a teenage girl who thinks that her 15th birthday will unlock the secrets of multiple orgasms, as if any boy with the relevant equipment can oblige to order.

What is more down-in-the-dirt and certainly a challenge is Stefy's view on the relative value of men. It's a question of control and where the power lies. Andrea could never make a decision, which weakened his charm base.

"Do you know what I do before sex?" she asks Megghy. "I fold my clothes."

Meggy looks baffled. Shouldn't it be spontaneous and utterly utterly?

Montorsi is fit; Merlino is exhausting; Morelli is limp.