Pleasure is, in its bones, a classic tale of the corrupting allure of fame. A young starlet-to-be arrives in Hollywood, becomes both entranced and envious of the successful veteran, signs her soul away to become the morally corrupt person she was warned about, and eventually realizes her mistake in thinking pure success would bring her happiness. In Swedish director Ninja Thyberg’s impeccably cast drama, the archetypal aspiring celebrity is Bella Cherry (spectacular first-time actor Sofia Kappel) a nineteen-year-old Swede who moves to the US in search of porn stardom. Though Bella is a newcomer, she understands the game, if not its specific rules, and is soon taking on bigger, better, and more harrowing challenges in a meteoric rise to top and be topped. While the intelligently shot and performed porn epic begins promisingly, its overwhelming heterosexuality, predictable beats, and rushed third act result in a middling conclusion that has few truly new thoughts about the industry it portrays.
In her first day of go-sees, Bella watches the shoot of hard-eyed, Agent Provocateur-outfitted Ava (Evelyn Claire), and decides right then and there that she’s destined to join her ranks. Though it’s the far less refined Joy (the delightful Revika Anne Reustle) who ends up showing her the ropes of marketing, shoots, and clip sales, Bella is determined to chase Ava and the rest of the high-earning Spiegler Girls until she’s in the VIP room with them.
Bella starts by lucking into a booking with a highly sought-after kink and fetish director, which goes better than she could have ever expected. This particular scene is one of the most refreshing of the film. Much of the dialogue from the real adult performers, directors, and PAs at the shoot is improvised, with safety and comfort level being thoroughly discussed throughout, and a real chemistry built. It seems as though Bella might venture further into this world, but the film veers to a singular goal of celebrity, and Bella is sent on a brutal, coercive shoot that has little respect for her boundaries. Though she considers returning to Sweden, Bella clicks back onto course with a renewed vigor, taking advantage of those who showed her early kindness.
When thinking about mainstream portrayals of sex work, the historical bar is in hell. We’ve been fed decades of murdered and murderous women on crime procedurals, helpless to the wiles of abusive pimps and johns until they snap. Porn actresses have an especially infantilizing rap, often pictured as trapped or tricked into the profession, or coerced by way of a traumatized childhood. Pleasure’s introduction of the entrepreneurial, perceptive Bella, as well as the occasionally funny, sometimes brutally uncomfortable demystifying with which it approaches porn shoots, feels wholly refreshing. Some of this praise for the positivity and honesty of the film, especially as it relates to the cast culled from the industry itself, will be well-earned. However, much of the praise for the concept of “exposing” of a seedy underbelly is tired, and ties back to a Christian-backed, anti-sex work imperative to protect women from porn.
This is especially evident when Bella faces a choice between betrayal of a friend, and the guarantee of a prize spot with Mark Spiegler (amiably played by Spiegler himself). As authentic and “non judgmental” as the director states she wants the film to be in a Q&A for its Sundance premiere, the story’s final passage reverts to a moralizing guilt in which the protagonist must realize she’s gone too far––only after she reenacts a transfer of her own traumatization in a girl-on-girl shoot with her idol.
I can’t help but wonder what would happen if someone on the inside had written and directed this, rather than a filmmaker who means well, but first became interested in porn through a gender studies course, never directed any porn herself, and had to enlist the help of porn producers to learn how to shoot the scenes. If the film seeks such authenticity, why not go further than performers and camera techniques? The film will surely earn an NC-17 or X rating in any case, so why not go all the way?
Inherent to the way one views Pleasure will be a previous attitude on porn, and that’s certainly not something Thyberg can control. There are, however, enough built-in chances for the story to have ventured in directions that didn’t associate sex work with an automatic loss of principles, and necessary redemption by way of renunciation. Despite its technical prowess and performances, I wouldn’t be surprised if a no-nuance “porn really is bad” becomes a popular takeaway from Pleasure, and that’s just no fun at all.
Pleasure premiered at Sundance Film Festival.