There are probably going to be two reactions to this movie. There will be a group that thinks it's a sensitive portrayal of what to many is a crushing emotional burden. There will also be a group that thinks the whole thing is silly and pretentious.I fall into the former group. Having been a 29-year-old virgin, I know firsthand the psychological anguish it can cause, and the incredible blossoming of one's life that can occur when one finally "does it." Members of the first group, learning that they are not the only one in the world with these issues, may get hope from watching the movie and learn to be more gentle with themselves.Those in the latter group can't ever fully understand what that is like, but I hope they can view the movie with empathy. It's easy to belittle the plight of others, but that keeps one from learning anything, both about others and about oneself.

The "school for virgins", a place in Amsterdam that helps men who have not successfully been with a woman, are run by people who genuinely are reducing the suffering of the world. In a world where sexual frustration is one of the great evils of our society, I would welcome more work like this splendid documentary. Sexual frustration is something that should be identified as the health issue it is.We meet James, a 26 year old virgin that embarks on his 'education' to unlearn his fear of women, and to be comfortable with his own body. His personality has many characteristics considered unattractive by women. As the education progresses, we see him build up an amount of confidence. Through it all, James shows us incredible courage, to talk openly about the very issues that he has been ridiculed for since his days in school. This movie is making a simple statement about sex. The vast majority of us all need it. It is a basic need, and without it, we are not likely to find happiness or love.If everyone lost their virginity at 16, would we have less mental illness? Maybe even, less people willing to blow themselves up for 72 virgins in the afterlife.The movie also makes you think about prostitution in a different way. It does not mention that in the Netherlands, prostitution is legal and considered by the majority of the population as a proper occupation, and not as deviant behavior (prostitutes may join workers unions). While it is far better to make love, then to simply have sex, there are those who are not fortunate to have that luxury. The tension that builds up as a result from 26 years of involuntary celibacy does not help in finding a girl-friend.

James Riley is 26 years old. His only source of income is delivering the local free paper door-to-door. He lives with his Dad and his Dad's girlfriend in Kent. Oh, and he's still a virgin. In the UK, James is outside of the 96% of men who have lost their virginity by 25 and a few years outside the average age of 18 for having sex for the first time. To help overcome his reservations, fears and total inexperience with women, James enrols on a course in Amsterdam run by Aquarian – a "school" for men to be coached through intimacy, sexuality and life skills and, if they complete the course then they will lose their virginity to one of the coaches.Look, I have sympathy with James. I am reasonably rubbish with women socially even if I've never been particularly shy about being naked or having sex, but I was never that sexually active until outside my teenage years. So I do feel for Buffy and X-Files fan James because it is not easy to be a virgin in a society where sex is everywhere. I watched this with this in mind and I do admit that in some ways the "course" was useful to James in building his confidence etc but then on the flip side I varied from laughing to watching open-mouthed throughout this film.The course itself is a hilariously new-age load of nonsense that I witnessed in a "what a world we live in" way. Women in their fifties, rub James and get him used to being on a bed with a woman etc before, at the end of the course, a (marginally) younger coach "completes" the course with James. It is hilarious but unintentionally so. Then on the other side I struggled to believe what I was watching – not in a moral outage way so much as just what I was watching (although it could easily have been the former – this show would keep the Daily Mail in "to hell in a handcart" headlines for months). With all the angles of soft-core pornography, we see skinny and pale James masturbated to completion as well as staring deep into an elderly woman's vagina to familiarise himself with it. It is hard to believe you're watching it and harder to understand why.For all the horrifying images we see, there are plenty of hilarious ones. I know that I should applaud the way James sheds his inhibitions but seeing him stiffly doing a sexless strip dance, it was hard to do anything but laugh and cry at the same time! Speaking of inhibitions, it struck me as very odd that the shy and inexperienced James would allow all this to be filmed and that niggled me all the way through the film because no explanation is offered. So he is nervous about the size of his penis but is happy to let it be broadcast on national television for all to see? Very shy about even being touched by a woman but fine with us all seeing his toes literally curling as he enjoys his first orgasm in the company of someone else? It didn't totally wash with me and just seemed weird. It doesn't help that the film isn't really clear about its aims, because it makes the (quite explicit) sexual nature just seem an end in itself.Overall then, a hypnotically horrific and unintentionally hilarious film that offers little in the way of interest other than the shock/curiosity value of seeing what you see. The idea of James allowing all this to be filmed doesn't wash with the character we are told he is and director Humphreys doesn't really manage to make it come together on the screen.

At the time that this documentary was broadcast, I could relate to the character it focused on, being a virgin myself (and being a bit weird and not very confident). This documentary focused on 26-year-old James as he embarked on a four month course to improve his sexual experience and confidence. He went to the Aquarion 'school for love and leadership' in Amsterdam, and the course would conclude with the opportunity for him to 'do it' with one of the sex coaches. There were very weird almost uncomfortable moments where he was being introduced to an old sex therapist and having the experience of seeing her anatomy, getting his clothes off, and touching her, but thankfully, she wasn't the one he was going to 'do it' with. The sex therapist he would was an attractive woman who has had a lot of experience with helping a man to lose his virginity. The documentary concludes with his success and happiness of not being a virgin anymore, thinking that it is not essential that other virgins 'do it', but it in an adventure, an admirable guy, even if he's unusual. Very good!