Title: The Sales Girl
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Janchivdorj Sengedorj
Starring: Bayarjargal Bayartsetseg, Oidovjamts Enkhtuul
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

What It Is: A college co-oed named Saruul (Bayarjargal Bayartsetseg) winds up running a sex shop owned by an eccentric ex Dancer named Katya (Oidovjamts Enkhtuul) and goes on a journey of self discovery. She deals with a variety of clientele and learns to not take life so seriously through her pseudo mother daughter bond she forms with Katya

What We Think: The movie starts off with a character falling and getting a broken ankle, while watching this, I’ve been nursing a broken ankle myself. I feel seen! All kidding aside, I find myself a little frustrated with this movie. It’s a good film and enjoyable, but hot damn is it indulgent.

Let’s back track a bit. This film is a great comedy, the jokes land and never feel forced, the humor that arises out of the situations feels authentic, it’s well acted, so what’s the problem?

Some of the footage definitely needed to be left on the cutting room floor or at least trimmed.

Did we really need music video-like sequences that go completely unbroken for entire durations of songs? Did we need shots of Saruul just walking for what felt like minutes at a time? When this movie had dialogue, it was great! It was the artsy-aspects that bogged it down. I am normally not the person to dislike a music video-like sequence in a movie. Hell, I normally welcome it. But in this movie, none of the sequences felt like they added much at all. They hurt the pacing severely. There’s also just a lot of unbroken sequences of Saruul just kind of existing and doing day to day things. Sure, slice of life type drama, it’s great for that, but some felt lengthy and not very necessary at all.

Okay, I’ve gotten the negatives out of the way, let’s talk positives. As said before, this movie is hilarious. The humor is raunchy (as you’d expect) and Katya is easily the most entertaining character. You genuinely never know what shenanigans she will pull next. She actually might be the best part of this film. Oidovjamts Enkhtuul plays her brilliantly. The brash, almost looney tune type over the top person she can be at times, well balanced by a truly broken side that showcases that Katya is a very nuanced and complex individual. Bayarjargal Bayartsetseg also is great as Saruul, playing a very understated character that is freeing herself up for the first time and allowing herself to explore different avenues she never thought possible before. Their dynamic is the heart of the film and their complex, at times antagonistic dynamic steals the show.

I do like the music quite a bit despite not caring for the music video sequences. It’s a very indie sounding soundtrack that gives us a sneak peak into who Saruul is underneath the closed off shell. It’s perfect for the vibe, I just wished it was utilized better.

A final word of caution to any viewers sensitive to the subject matter, and this should be obvious given the premise, but this film is horny on main. Like, the entire movie is more or less Saruul’s sexual awakening. The movie deals heavily with the subject matter of sex. So if uncomfortable with that subject, avoid this movie. Should be obvious from Saruul in lingerie and bunny ears in all the promo material, but yea, not suitable for younger viewers. That being said, all the sex humor is pretty well done in my opinion.

Our Grade: B, If you cut 10, maybe even 15 minutes worth of the extra footage, you’d have an A movie. There’s a lot of great stuff here, it’s just bogged down by music sequences and a lot of moments of nothing.