Doin' It
“The cultural references in Doin’ It suffer from oversimplification.”
Title: Doin’ It (2025)
Director: Sara Zandieh 👩🏽🇮🇷🇺🇸
Writers: Neel Patel 👨🏽🇺🇸, Lilly Singh 👩🏽🇨🇦, and Sara Zandieh 👩🏽🇮🇷🇺🇸
Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸
Technical: 2.5/5
Doin' It looks good on paper—a culturally specific sex comedy from Indian Canadian entertainer Lilly Singh, who plays 30-year-old virgin Maya Singh, and is directed by Iranian American Sara Zandieh. With slick production values and peppy editing, the movie was well-received at its world premiere at South by Southwest last year. But the writing doesn’t back up its zeal: Banal plotting and wooden dialogue turn down the energy. And while I’m usually all for conventional storylines that have a cultural twist—Tubi’s Worth the Wait (2025) being a recent example—even the ethnic references feel broad and unoriginal, meaning the film gives us nothing new at all. It’s sex positive, but Sex Education (2019–23) did it with more humor and heart. It’s queer and funny, but Bottoms (2023) and Booksmart (2019) did it queerer and funnier. So what’s left? An earnest, raunchy, and silly way to fill an hour and a half. Well, there are worse things out there.
Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES
This category is a doozy: The film was made by women and centers women. Main characters, best friends, and adversaries are all women. Even from a narrative standpoint, Zandieh de-centers the male love interest—an impressive feat, considering that Doin’ It tackles themes of sexuality and romance. While hunky teacher Alex Cruz (Trevor Salter) has plenty of scenes, the importance of his romantic subplot sits on par with Maya's ups and downs with other women, including childhood friend Jess (Sabrina Jalees) and Maya’s conservative mom, Veena (Sonia Dhillon Tully). Throughout the film, writers Zandieh, Singh, and Neel Patel never forget that Maya’s journey of self-discovery takes precedence over romantic shenanigans with men.
Race: 4.25/5
Written and directed by women of color, and starring a central couple that's Indian and Filipino, the film sits comfortably in a multicultural setting. The supporting cast is also diverse, from Maya’s best friend Jess, played by Swiss-Pakistani actor Jalees, to the secretly wealthy lunch lady at Maya’s school, Barbara, played by multiracial Colombian-Bolivian American actor Stephanie Beatriz.
From the get-go, it’s clear this isn’t the usual coming-of-age sex comedy starring white characters: When 13-year-old Maya is publicly humiliated after being caught in flagrante with a classmate, she’s shipped off to India to be rehabilitated by her family abroad. And with scenes set in India, refined by Singh’s own mom, who helped with cultural references, language, and accents, Doin’ It puts in the effort to create a lived-in world.
On the other hand, that resulting world feels disappointingly broad, reduced to simple terms for presumably Western audiences. We learn that Maya is Indian, yet India encompasses over 120 languages and hundreds of ethnic groups. Something as basic as a title card stating the location of Maya’s scenes in India would have gone a long way towards a stronger sense of place.
Cultural references also suffer from oversimplification. Throughout the movie, Maya contends that her toxic relationship with sexuality stems from Asian patriarchy, and she warns her student Abbey Ho (Sydney Topliffe) to be careful about losing her virginity, noting that they’re both from backgrounds that are especially strict with girls. While the story acknowledges that Maya’s fear-based advice perpetuates unrealistic standards for girls, it never critiques the race-based assumptions Maya makes about her East Asian student. Doin’ It’s conclusions about being Asian diaspora are never completely off the mark, but the superficial writing reduces every character to a two-dimensional archetype.
Bonus for LGBTQ: +0.50
Maya’s best friend, Jess, is a lesbian played by lesbian comedian Jalees. Jess has plenty of scenes, as well as her own girlfriend and romantic subplot, but she exists to support her straight best friend, dropping everything to help Maya at every turn.
On the plus side, Jess isn’t the only queer representation in the film. Behind the lens, Singh is bisexual, as is Beatriz. On screen, when Maya teaches her sex-ed class, it’s inclusive and talks about gender identity and sexual orientation, and one of the students in her class comes out as questioning by the end of the movie.
Mediaversity Grade: B 4.08/5
Although Doin’ It has heart and eagerness in spades, it lacks the depth required to resonate. Without a stronger foundation of cultural specificity, its off-the-wall humor bounces around, fun but flighty.
Like Doin’ It? Try these other inclusive titles that blend romance with comedy.
The Big Sick (2017)
Joy Ride (2023)
Bottoms (2023)