Filmmaker Marianna Palka Talks ‘Good Dick’

Pay your $10, sit back and enjoy some Good Dick…

Good Dick is being released in a dimly lit theater near you, but no, your local cinema hasn't turned into a spank spot (so put it away). Good Dick is the curiously romantic comedy from first-time director Marianna Palka, who also wrote, produced and starred in the film.

The 27-year-old from Glasgow, Scotland, plays an awkward L.A. recluse who rents porn late at night and catches the eye of one of the lonely video store clerks (Jason Ritter, son of Three's Company star John Ritter). Read on to watch the trailer and and check out our interview with Marianna Palka, where she talks about stale cinematic sexuality, researching porn and how easy it is to trip over Good Dick…

Watch The Trailer:

Complex: What's been the funniest instance of somebody fumbling with the title Good Dick?

Marianna Palka: My grandmother still thinks that the film is about a detective. She thinks that he's solving mysteries. People really enjoy the title. At the Sundance Film Festival, I said that Good Dick was the only title, out of the few titles that I had, that stood out. Everyone started laughing and I was like, Man, that's a double meaning!

Palka and Ritter smack Utah with Good Dick at the Sundance Film Festival.

Complex: What inspired you to write a film about a relationship that has its origins in the porn section of a video store?

Marianna Palka: I was trying to say something about what sexuality and togetherness are, that they can be complex but they're not complicated. We're so used to seeing this one aspect of sexuality. We've seen the blow-dried, makeup version of what's attractive so many times that it's redundant now. It's no longer interesting. Everyone is full of vast experiences and to assume that people are gonna only be attracted to one thing is really ridiculous. People have been so relieved when they've seen [Good Dick]. [Ed. Note: Pause. See, it's hard to talk about Good Dick. Pause.] They get a break from all that bullshit, like, Oh, I don't have to paint my nails or make sure I'm metrosexual! [Laughs.]

Complex: Your character has a very specific interest in '70s and '80s soft-core erotica. Did you do extensive porn research for the film?

Marianna Palka: I researched sooo much. I watched everything. I wanted to get really specific about what her taste is and why. [Her interest in erotica] was really deliberate because, to her, those films are not threatening. [Jason's character] has a line where he says, “It's got penises but you'll like it.” She's not really in a place where she can enjoy every kind of film. She's into stuff that's got lots of women, like fluffy niceness, well shot, stuff that's really non-threatening, because it's the opposite of what her experience has been with sex.

Erotica brings Ritter and Palka closer.

Complex: At one point she shows Jason's character a film that really turns him off. I assumed it was some really degrading domination porn, but what were you envisioning?

Marianna Palka: She's showing him hardcore porn, as opposed to the erotica she likes, because she thinks that's what he'll like. It's a kind of manipulation. She's saying, “This what you want to do. This is sex, right?” But he's like, “No, that's not sex. That's not what I want to do. That's so boring, and it's making me not excited.” It's a profound moment for her because she realizes that he can't just be written off, like, That's what he wants to do and he's an asshole. He's actually way more interesting than that.

Complex: The film is a comedy but it does deal with sexual abuse, which…isn't exactly hilarious. What determined your approach to the subject?

Marianna Palka: I have a few close friends who were sexually abused in their childhood to varying degrees. Each one of them is overcoming it in their own way and I wanted to show that there is hope. It's easy to write off a film if you hear it's about sexual abuse, but the thing is it's actually a very positive film. I didn't wanna show another movie where a kid is getting molested by a pedophile; I think it's much more interesting to explore how boring [sexual abuse] is to deal with when you're 25 and it's already happened to you.