Writer/director Lena Dunham’s latest film “Sharp Stick,” arrived on digital rental platforms Tuesday after bowing at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and playing in theaters this summer. It’s the first film that Dunham has written and directed since her breakout feature, “Tiny Furniture” catapulted her into the limelight in 2010. She also has another film premiering this fall, “Catherine, Called Birdy,” adapted from the historical novel by Karen Cushman.
Dunham is largely known for her work on TV, specifically the cultural lightning rod that was her HBO series “Girls,” which she created, produced, wrote, starred in and directed 19 episodes. That series made her somewhat of a polarizing figure, but Dunham, as a filmmaker is much more than just “Girls,” and the sexy, spiky “Sharp Stick” is a welcome reminder that she’s a fantastic, and daring, director as well.
Starring Kristine Froseth, “Sharp Stick” explores the same coming-of-age issues that Dunham tackled in “Tiny Furniture” and “Girls,” but with a tighter focus. Froseth’s character, Sarah Jo, is a young woman attempting to explore her own sexuality, which has been divorced from her own fertility, having had a hysterectomy at a young age. A torrid affair with Josh (Jon Bernthal), the father of the child she nannies, sets her head spinning, and Sarah Jo attempts to process her feelings through sexual experimentation, for better or for worse.
