Director: Ninja Thyberg
Writers: Peter Modestij, Ninja Thyberg
Stars: Sofia Kappel, Revika Ann Reustle, Evelyn Claire
Synopsis: 20-year-old Jessica leaves the small-town life in Sweden for Los Angeles with the aim to become the world’s next big porn star but the road to her goal turns out to be bumpier than she imagined.
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Before I delve into this review, there are a few trigger warnings that I want to warn you about before you decide if you want to see Pleasure. This is an 18+ film, filled with male and female nudity, graphic scenes, sexual assault, hitting, choking, and abuse. Whilst these are all done for the sake of the narrative and to de-stigmatize sex workers, they are shown on screen and may impact your viewing experience if you are sensitive to that. If you are not sure if the film is going to impact you negatively, please do your research on it before watching it when it releases.
Pleasure exposes the true, dark side of the porn industry and does so through the eyes of a Swedish girl who is new to the scene. This almost innocent approach to the start of the film, knowing what might end up happening to Jessica because of this industry, makes the film terrifying from the first few scenes and just continues to escalate. Even when things appear to be going well, it is hard to feel good about the situation.
This is a breakout performance from lead Sofia Kappel, who is fully believable as a young girl just entering the scene. Having no previous experience in any sort of filmmaking, especially the adult film industry, she is incredibly convincing and goes so far to pull off the role and what is needed from the story. Quite simply, she is one to keep your eye out on, because she has a bright future ahead of her.
This is a film that I love, but that I will most likely never watch again. It captivated me from the first moments due to the filmmaking and the narrative, but it is such a brutal watch for anyone. There are so many tough scenes and so much pain and heartbreak within the narrative, and the sad truth is that this is a reality for many people starting out in the industry. It does not sugar coat the situation at any moment, making the audience aware of what young women are doing to earn their pay in the industry and saying that things need to be changed.
There are two key messages that come out from watching this film, both of which have a huge impact on the narrative as well as being a commentary on the porn industry right now. Firstly, I love that the film addressed the issues in the workplace surrounding the male gaze and how men and women treat their actresses at film shoots. Having two particular scenes right next to each other, one that was a shoot with a female director and one that was a shoot with a male director, shows the reality that women look after each other more and care about the safety of each other more than men will. This was incredibly impactful and well-directed by Ninja Thyberg.
The other key message that came out of this film, which is something they could have perhaps pushed further, was the stigma that surrounds sex workers. Not only does this film show how incredibly hard-working these women are to earn a living, some of them working every single day and only seeing this job as work, but the amount of preparation they have to do to be prepared for a shoot. If we see actors in Hollywood as real workers who earn their wages, there should not be the stigma for porn actors either.
If there is something to point out about this film in terms of criticism, it is how the film decides to end off. It is so easy to be emotionally invested in the story and our leading character, but the ending feels so abrupt that we do not get a satisfying conclusion to the story. Whilst there is a stylistic choice to how this story ends, and I can see where the director was going with it, I just wish there was more substance to go along with how the rest of the film plays out.
This is definitely not going to be a film for everyone, and it is hard to fully recommend it without knowing what boundaries people have. It is such a tough watch, but one that I feel is necessary for those who can make it through. Ninja Thyberg tells a wonderful story here, one inspired by a short she made years ago of the same name, and I am intrigued to see how that short film plays out in comparison to this film. Whilst I will not be rushing out to watch this film again, it is one I will certainly not forget.
