Just Say Yes Parent Guide
There's no happily ever after for anyone who's spent an hour and a half watching this film.
Parent Movie Review
“I’m Lotte and I’m a real sucker for romance.” This is a bit of an understatement. In fact, Lotte (Yolanthe Cabau) is so swept away with the idea of happily-ever-after that she’s engaged to Alex (Juvat Westendorp), a self-centered, bullying, pretty boy who steals her ideas in meetings and claims credit for them – while she’s in the room. When Alex jilts her on live TV, Lotte thinks her life is over.
Lotte’s new colleague Chris (Jim Bakkum) offers to help her win Alex back, with one condition: she has to trust him and follow his instructions. So, Lotte gets the requisite makeover involving contact lenses, a blow out, and body-con dresses. She also works to make Alex jealous, and agrees to host Chris’s show, thus propelling it to ever-higher ratings. As the curvaceous woman’s career takes off and Alex’s slides, he decides to try for a second chance.
Just Say Yes is a frustrating romantic comedy. Lotte is, to put it bluntly, a bit pathetic. She’s desperate, she’s a pushover, she doesn’t assert herself or take control of her life. She’s also surrounded by horrible people – colleagues and friends – most of whom use her to further their own agendas. And Lotte keeps falling for their deceptions. As I watched Alex warm things up with Lotte again, all I could think of was the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Watching this film is also a maddening exercise for anyone with even the slightest belief in women’s rights. Lotte’s workplace is a hotbed of sexual harassment, with a weaselly editor who makes suggestive comments to the female employees and tries to kiss them. Meetings are run with no regard for women’s contributions and in a way that facilitates men appropriating their ideas. Considering that the Netherlands is a global leader in women’s rights, I sincerely hope that Lotte’s experience doesn’t depict the workplace reality for Dutch women.
There are precious few positive themes to counterbalance Lotte’s desperation and her toxic environment. There’s a feeble nod towards the support of friends and an unconvincing tribute to the power of sisterly bonds. The movie’s strongest message is in Lotte’s (very late) discovery that she has worth as a person – separate from her relationship status.
Unfortunately, Just Say Yes is also burdened with significant negative content. There are almost three dozen sexual expletives and multiple scenes of main characters getting drunk, including one where they also take drugs. And although there is no explicit sex in the film, it is full of crude language and scenes of heavy sexual innuendo. When it comes to family viewing, just say no to this disappointing little film.
Directed by Appie Boudellah, Aram van de Rest. Starring Yolanthe Cabau, Huub Smit, Jim Bakkum . Running time: 97 minutes. Theatrical release April 2, 2021. Updated October 2, 2021Watch the trailer for Just Say Yes
Just Say Yes
Rating & Content Info
Why is Just Say Yes rated TV-MA? Just Say Yes is rated TV-MA by the MPAA
Violence: A child punches another child at school. A man punches another man. Someone jokes about suicide. A woman imagines strangling another character. A woman fantasizes about attacking a man. Women attack each other, pushing and hitting.
Sexual Content: There are close up shots of a running woman’s cleavage and of the backside of a woman wearing black lace underwear. A man is heard talking about a sexually transmitted disease with a mention of itchy genitals. There are scenes of men and women kissing, sometimes passionately. A woman removes her shirt and is seen in her bra. A woman grabs her own breasts and pushes them up. A man jokes about women making sex tapes. A woman mentions a sex toy. A shirtless man is seen in a woman’s home: a sexual relationship is implied. A man tries to kiss an unwilling employee. There is a crass joke about accidentally “milking” a steer instead of a cow and drinking the resulting liquid. A woman videochats in her lingerie. A woman accidentally gets a toy rocket stuck in her rectum. Women wear headbands with plastic male genitals in place of antennae. Women drink shots off a man’s chest. Sexual activity is implied between a man and a woman wearing a bra. A man mimes a woman’s large chest.
Profanity: The movie contains almost three dozen sexual expletives as well as a sexual hand gesture. There are also crude anatomical terms, three scatological curses, and a half dozen terms of deity. A crude term for women is also used frequently.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A woman is asked if she’s high on drugs. Main characters drink alcohol alone and in social situations, sometimes becoming intoxicated. A main character gets drunk to deal with grief. A main character smokes marijuana. Women take ecstasy and then drink alcohol, getting both drunk and high.
Page last updated October 2, 2021
Just Say Yes Parents' Guide
Lotte’s experiences in office meetings are depressingly familiar to too many women. For more information about the problems women face in workplace environments and how to change the situation, check these links.
BYU Magazine: When Women Don’t Speak
CNBC: 45% of women business leaders say it’s difficult for women to speak up in virtual meetings
The New York Times: It’s Not Just You: In Online Meetings, Many Women Can’t Get a Word In
The Wall Street Journal: How Men & Women See the Workplace Differently
Lean In: 8 Powerful Ways Managers Can Support Equality
The Muse: 7 Striking Facts About the State of Women in the Workplace
Start Up Daily: Women with great ideas and the men that take credit for them…
Home Video
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