DAMSELS IN DISTRESS
A witty defense of traditional values, with discernment advised.
Should You Watch It?
You will find a clever, witty comedy with funny dialogue, unique characters, and relatively little foul language, violence, or lewd content. Its four heroines defend traditional dating and sexual values while running a suicide prevention center and pursuing respectful relationships.
The film does not treat every choice or idea perfectly. Lily’s one-time sexual encounter leaves her unhappy, and the movie includes some discussion of suicide and brief absurd comments about homosexuality. Still, its ending argues that traditional values can bring true happiness, and the story generally takes the girls’ side with affection and respect.
If your family includes middle schoolers or older viewers who can handle the noted material, this is worth seeing; younger children should watch something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAt a historic small-town university, Violet, Rose, and Heather take new transfer student Lily under their wing. They want to rescue the school from what they see as modern loose living and guide Lily toward the values and styles of earlier decades.
The girls run the campus suicide prevention center, search for men who will respect them, and pursue their own unusual ambitions. Violet also hopes to start a worldwide traditional dance craze.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a good film whose strengths outweigh its limitations. Here, the magic comes less from the thin plot than from the characters and the effervescently witty dialogue. The movie has a strong ear for funny conversation and creates distinctive, quirky personalities.
The girls’ extreme morality and traditionalism can make the story feel unbelievable in today’s world. Still, the film offers gentle laughs while treating its heroines with respect. Whit Stillman’s return shows the same interest in the neurotic tendencies of upper-class East Coast WASPs that marked his earlier films, presented here through a sweeter and more traditional comic world.
The Worldview
The film takes the side of four young women who believe modern morals have intruded on their university. It exalts traditional dating, sexual restraint, respectful relationships, and a life shaped by older social values. Its positive message is that traditional values can still bring true happiness.
The movie also acknowledges its characters’ extremes and includes a subplot that slightly mars its moral worldview. Lily’s implied sexual encounter brings unhappiness rather than fulfillment, while the girls’ suicide-prevention work becomes the source of running jokes. The film mentions God in a discussion about cultural decline, but it does not present a specifically Christian account of why traditional values matter.
The movie’s social world is deliberately shaped around upper-class East Coast characters and their neurotic tendencies, using that setting as a comic lens rather than as a fully realistic picture of modern life.
The film’s longing for happiness through rightly ordered relationships points toward a biblical truth, even though the movie does not fully ground that truth in God: “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong moral worldview shows traditional moral values can still bring true happiness, marred slightly by one Romantic-viewed subplot, in a story about four college girls trying to create a return to traditional dating and sexual mores at their university, including mention of God in discussion about the decline of the culture, plus some absurd comments by one male student who says homosexuals of the past such as Cole Porter or Oscar Wilde were classy but modern homosexuals are crass “morons” who show off their muscles and contribute nothing; three obscenities; no violence; implied fornication when one girl allows herself to be seduced by a male student, but her actions bring unhappiness; no nudity; alcohol use and drunkenness; no smoking or drugs; and, comments on past misdeeds, such as excessive partying and drinking.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The girls believe older values can protect people from unhappiness. Which traditional values are also clearly taught in Scripture, and why?
Proverbs 4:23 · Philippians 4:8Lily regrets her sexual encounter. How can a person respond wisely to temptation before making a choice, and how does God offer forgiveness afterward?
1 Corinthians 6:18 · 1 John 1:9The girls run a suicide prevention center, even though the subject is sometimes treated comically. Why should Christians take despair seriously, and how can we offer practical care?
Galatians 6:2 · Romans 12:15The film mentions God while discussing cultural decline. What does Scripture say is the source of lasting happiness?
Psalm 16:11 · John 15:10–11The Final Word
This is a smart, relatively clean comedy with memorable characters and a hopeful defense of traditional values. Its sexual material, suicide references, and other brief concerns call for discernment. For middle schoolers and up, WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP. For younger children, choose another family-friendly option.
