The WA-made risque comedy about women ‘of a certain age’ that will appeal to blokes, too

With its cast of mostly middle-aged female actors, the WA-made comedy How to Please a Woman might not seem like your typical coming-of-age movie. And, of course, technically it isn’t, because the plot doesn’t revolve around the hackneyed trope of kids making the often rocky transition into adulthood. Instead, the film examines that moment when a woman comes of a certain age and finds society is increasingly ignoring her needs, either sexually or emotionally, in a way that doesn’t happen to men. How to Please a Woman is somewhat of a rarity in the entertainment industry. Though Hollywood and the film industries of the UK and Australia have made significant improvements in the representation of women, the 35-55 age group remains largely forgotten. Led by UK actor Sally Phillips of Bridget Jones’s Diary fame, the cast includes some of Australia’s most respected acting talent, such as Mystery Road’s Tasma Walton, Doctor Doctor star Hayley McElhinney, Caroline Brazier and Erik Thomson, whose late-career resurgence is showing no signs of abating. Instead of relying on familiar tropes that have marginalised characters (and viewers) in this age group, Perth director Renee Webster has, in her debut feature, fashioned a risque comedy about a group of women who get involved in an illegal male prostitution ring. Think Desperate Housewives crossed with Risky Business, with a pinch of The Full Monty thrown in for good measure. For some of the women in the movie, this journey is one of self-discovery but for others it’s a sexual reawakening, which is something we seldom see depicted in movies. “To be honest, I’ve always wondered why that is, because I know every time I go to the movies that particular demographic often takes up the bulk of the audience,” Geraldton-born and raised Walton says. “This is a demographic that loves going to the movies and should be able to see themselves reflected in the stories that they’re going to watch. “And, hopefully, the more that these sorts of films come out and are successful, the more people might realise that there’s a viable market to tell these stories.” In the film, Walton plays Monique, a high-flying corporate lawyer, who has let her romantic life play second fiddle to her work for too long, and now is in need of a reset. “Sometimes what can happen in those (work-life) circuits is your personal relationships don’t get the energy that they need,” Walton says. Webster said telling stories about this demographic that just revolved around ageing only provided a “really shallow treatment”. “Actually, there’s a whole lot more going on, and they just get left out of it . . . so what I tried to do was not make them family or partner stories, but that these women stand alone on their own journey,” she said. When contemplating the disparate character arcs of the film’s female protagonists, a word springs to mind — relatable. If you’re wondering how an illegal male prostitute ring is relatable, well, Webster drew her inspiration from a true story. “So, there was a company in Melbourne that was run by two housewives, who offered sexual services provided by men, initially for women,” Webster reveals. “And it was fascinating, so I got in touch with them and they were just the most unlikely women to run that sort of company.” After a bit more research, Webster realised these women weren’t unlike her in that they were also looking to service the same forgotten demographic in society. “They talked about what they saw as a gap in the market,” the director agrees. Webster also wanted the gigolos to be relatable, so these characters are actually workers from a failing removalist company, who offer sexual services for money as a way to make ends meet and restore their own self-confidence. As a result, the director sees How To Please a Woman as a film that can also please the blokes. Walton, married to comedian Rove McManus for the past 13 years, agrees that the film might be aimed at women, but doesn’t seek to alienate men, even if they’re often the butt of the joke. “First and foremost, we want people to have a great time, to have a laugh, maybe have a little cry, but ultimately have a wonderful couple of hours at the movies,” Walton says. “I think, for women, these are some of the stories that, without sounding trite, let you know that you’re visible when you reach a certain age, that your needs are important, and that they can be met. “For men, I guess (the message is) there is no used-by date for women, so let’s just continue to love and appreciate and adore the women in our lives, regardless of what stage of their life they’re at.” It was the script that convinced Bridget Jones’s Diary’s Phillips to pack up her three kids and bring them to Perth in the middle of the pandemic to fill the lead role. “I read (Webster’s) script, and I thought, ‘well . . . this is not going to be just OK, it’s either going to be great or awful’, a sort of high-risk, high-reward thing,” Phillips says on a Zoom call. “The portion of the population that have fewest orgasms are married women, and the people who do most of the housework are married women — are these two things related,” Phillips ponders. And it didn’t hurt that the script landed on her desk at a time when it resonated with things going on in her own life. “I’d been in America, broken-up myself, and that got very miserable and sexless for a while before the end, and I just identified with (the script’s themes), I guess,” she admits. “When I spoke to my friends about my experience it wasn’t unusual, so I thought this is something that is just not spoken about, and if you can shine some light on it, you can make things better, contribute something.” Phillips, who plays Shazzer in the Bridget Jones films, was a drawcard for the Fremantle-based production last year. Touching on the wildly popular film trilogy that shot her to fame, Phillips says it was a “real privilege” to be involved in the Bridget Jones world. “We had so much fun on those Bridget Jones films . . . just sitting there, eating chocolate and chatting, and James (Faulkner) and Shirley (Henderson) will be friends for life, I’ve had some great chats with Renee (Zellweger); Colin (Firth), who I’ve got so much time for, is such a gorgeous man,” she said. Back to her latest project, the final question for Phillips is also the most obvious: how DO you please a woman? The Brit’s answer was a little too raunchy for family-friendly reading, but she’s confident cinema audiences Down Under are more than ready to hear it. “I mean, I’m so uptight, but none of the Australians I met (during the production) were uptight, so I think Aussie audiences are going to really love it, because you’re emotionally and sexually liberated enough to really enjoy it,” she says with a laugh. How to Please a Woman is in cinemas now.