"How to Talk to Girls at Parties" is a short story written in 2006 by Neil Gaiman. It was adapted into a 2017 film directed by John Cameron Mitchell and starring Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp and Nicole Kidman.
Vic takes his best friend Enn to a party, in the hope that they can both snog girls. Enn demurs because he doesn't know how to talk to them. Things take a turn for the weird, however, when they realize they're at the wrong party. Enn talks to girls and realizes they're tourists from other planets.
Tropes used:
- Adaptation Expansion: In the film adaptation, the original short story only represents the first act. The rest of the film explores the actual motives of the partygoers and Enn's relationship with one of them.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if Vic went too far with Stella, or she went too far for his liking and he ran for it. When he tries to ask about it, Enn nearly gets punched.
- Apocalypse Maiden: A variant; Triolet tells Enn that she is a living representation of a poem. When a species hears the poem in question, they start to die out due to not having as many offspring. This eventually leads to society collapsing. For this reason, Triolet says that her kind is often chased off planets.
- Bittersweet Ending: Enn finally gets his first kiss that isn't with his sisters' friends, but he'll never see Triolet or the other girls again. Also, Stella does something to Vic that makes him leave in tears.
- Clones Are People, Too: Wain's Wain tells Enn that she is a clone of Wain, but is considered a defect because of her fingers. (Two fingers are blooming out of one knuckle.)
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá drew an adaptation for Dark Horse Comics.
- Instructional Title: How To Talk To Girls At Parties tells the story of a guy's attempt to talk to women at a party.
- First Kiss: Enn has kissed girls, but they tend to be his sister's friends.
- Rule of Three: Enn talks to three girls at the party. He only kisses Triolet after she recites part of her poem to him.
