Back in the 1990s, the sex comedy drove audiences to the box office and minted stars. However, thirty years later, these movies struggle to get made at all. However, movies like Doin’ It are great markers for how attitudes about sex have changed over the decades. Directed by Sara Zandieh, this new interpretation of the gross-out sex comedy scores points for creativity and its choice to depict honest sexual hangups. Doin’ It is a fun little flick and more proof we need comedies like this one in theaters.
Doin’ It Plot
As a young teen, Maya (Celine Joseph) found herself in a compromising situation in front of the entire school. Her mother (Sonia Dhillon Tully) uses this excuse to move back to India, where Maya decides to focus on school. When she returns with her mom to America as a thirty-year-old, she has grand ambitions to build a new app… and lose her virginity.
To help her fix her missed experiences in high school, she becomes a substitute teacher at the local school. Ironically, the only job they have available is for a sex-ed teacher, forcing Maya (Lilly Singh) to investigate her own sexuality. With the help of her childhood best friend Jess (Sabrina Jalees), new friend Barb (Stephanie Beatriz), and love interest Alex (Trevor Salter), Maya looks to remake the school curriculum.
The commitment to the bit helps land the comedy.
Doin’ It needs Sara Zandieh and Lilly Singh to be fully committed to the ridiculous sex comedy antics for it to work. They immediately show they are committed to gross-out comedy, and they get even grosser as the story moves on. Some gags are a little old hat, especially after the success of shows like Sex Education and Dying For Sex. That said, raunchy comedies have a high bar to clear to feel sexually liberated in 2025, and Zandieh nails that aspect.
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Singh also has to be willing to poke fun at herself, and she puts herself in very funny situations to do that. Singh co-wrote the movie with Zandieh and Neel Patel, but she gets the credit for the scenes she’s put in. One man talks about his mommy during intercourse, a woman gets angry at being used by a straight woman, and a third has equipment so big that Singh falls over, nailing the physical comedy.
This also provides a fun pushback to traditional comedies in this space. More often than not, sex comedies are told by men, for men, and the gags get sillier from there. There have been more women-led sex comedies of late, and it’s no surprise that Doin’ It premiered at SXSW the year after Bottoms. Both include sexually explicit sequences and traffic in using explicit language as well. There’s a space for a slightly shifted perspective on the genre, while also acknowledging that the genre has traditionally catered to a single audience. Yet sex is an embarrassing act of vulnerability for some, and there’s no reason that lewd or uncomfortable story beats should cause the entire genre to disappear.
The comedy has heart, which helps Doin’ It overcome some questionable writing.
Even with the ridiculous bits in the comedy showcasing sexuality on a spectrum, there are some surprisingly conservative choices in the film as well. One girl is worried about her first time, and Singh eventually steps in to try to stop it. The movie lets the character make her own choice, but when it occurs, it still airs on the conservative side of the sexual spectrum.
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Additionally, the choice to use a fourth-wall-breaking narration does not always work. It helps land a joke here and there, but for the most part, it takes us out of Doin’ It. The comedy flows from the interpersonal moments, and the strange sense of community as we work through our sexual flaws is more intriguing on screen.
The two areas we wish there was a little more innovation in Doin’ It come in the structure and familial relationships. The structure in particular is a little too predictable from the start. A person gets a teaching job they don’t want, they enjoy the teaching job after all, and they rally to change the system after they get in trouble. This makes Doin’ It more predictable in its complete arc than it feels in the moment-to-moment beats, especially when it is so willing to be creative in its depiction of sexuality.
The mother-daughter relationship is perhaps the most predictable part of the screenplay as well. We know where the mother needs to go by the end of the movie, and it’s further telegraphed when Never Have I Ever gets a short cameo moment in the film. While Doin’ It executes these moments well, it’s a shame that Singh, Zandieh, and Patel do not push themselves further in this plotline.
Is Doin’ It worth watching?
Yes! The sex comedy might feel like a genre of the past, but there’s plenty to clown on today. While social media and more internet access have led to more conversations about sex in the public discourse, there is still room for us to grow. Movies like Doin’ It not only make those conversations possible, but they provide a place for us to embrace shame in a comical, positive place.
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While there are super progressive shows and movies that embrace all the modern nuances of sex, sometimes it’s nice to embrace a traditional format and subvert it for maximum effect. Doin’ It is good because it uses the same gross-out humor you’d expect in a Farrelly Brothers movie or an American Pie entry. It’s a really good time if you like these kinds of movies, and it’s sure to find a decent following once the internet takes hold of it.
Watch Doin’ It in theaters on September 19, 2025. Aura Entertainment distributes.