'Camp Takota'

The stars of YouTube are making a break for the big screen.

Best known for their successful YouTube channels, Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamri Hart packed their awkward personalities with their arsenal of vagina jokes and boozed-up comedy, and traveled to a setting where they could be both hilarious and endearing — summer camp.

Helbig plays Elise, the stereotypical not-working-her-dream-job-but-has-a-hot-fiancé modern woman in Chicago. But an accident at work causes Elise to lose her job. To top off the sundae that was her day, she finds her fiancé with another woman.

Depressed and looking for an escape, a chance encounter leaves Elise with one option — return to her childhood summer camp, Camp Takota.

Back in the mosquito-swarmed forest, Elise catches up with her two best friends from camp, Maxine (Mamrie) and Allison (Hannah), who seem to have never left.

As the mosquito bites and poison ivy rashes bring them together, the future of Camp Takota is threatened. An obnoxious Wi-Fi addict has plans to mow the camp over and transform it into a social media Mecca, every teenager’s dream. But the women refuse to let that happen. They band together to show the girls of Takota that their camp can offer more than any Wi-Fi zone.

“Camp Takota” explored a very realistic representation of adulthood gone wrong. Though it was moved by dramatic situations, the responses were comedic and relatable.

One example would be the scene after Elise has discovered her cheating fiancé. We might expect to see our heroine whining to a friend or destroying her house or cuddling an empty wine glass in bed.

Instead, Elise is on the living room floor drinking straight from a liquor bottle, Facebook-stalking the woman who ruined her relationship.

The close relationship between Helbig, Hannah and Mamrie translates flawlessly to film. Their obvious level of comfort with each other makes it easier to process some of the jokes, the vagina ones in particular.

Mamrie and Lydia Genner, who co-penned the script, wrote the perfect role for each woman, shadowing the character after each actor’s personality and level of acting ability.

The screenplay itself was oozing with Mamrie’s sense of humor, incorporating cheesy puns, making fun of teenage trends and a lot of drinking.

On the production side, the film is very simple, and it works. Some of the fades and transitions seem off, but the cinematography is sharp, and there are many artistic shots emphasizing the scenery of the camp.

“Camp Takota” was advertised purely through the Internet. The YouTube community came together in their videos and through social networking to promote it, which allowed the targeted audience to keep updated throughout the production process.

“Camp Takota” is the perfect example to show it doesn’t take a bottomless budget to produce or promote a good film.

It keeps you laughing the entire time, and you will find no guilt in watching it over and over again.