Pleasure

Okay so "Pleasure" delves into what it is like to be a porn star. It comes equipped with all of the debauchery you would expect to portray this sometimes sordid craft. However, porn is something we're all intimately acquainted with and we all have a least a passing passion for how it is done.

The girls involved. The challenges they face working in such an industry. The guys they have to deal with on set. Even to the difficulties that male porn stars experience with 'being prepared and ready to go'

Boogie Nights was the only other film to really memorialize the porn industry and obviously it was fantastic. It crystallized the early porno scene industry. Pleasure does much the same but without a lot of the bravado and drugs. It feels very intimate and as though it were something that happened to the writer.

It captures the tensity of a live sex scene very well and you can even sense the nerves of the crew as they do their best to make the girls feel everything is professional and by the book. However it does get into the hardcore scenes, and even beyond that at times. Too far beyond it. The surreal nature of a "rough" scene and blurring the lines of what is performative art and what is bordering on sexual abuse and rape. Only the girls willingness to go through with it makes the act forgivable at all. I am not a fan of hardcore porn and this film doesn't glorify it. Much the opposite. It's an important film for pretty much everyone to see. Especially the younger generation that has been consuming porn for the entire lives via the internet.

My only complaint would be that I think some of the cinematic scenes could have been edited down quite a bit. The movie had a few pacing issues although it didn't really matter it just felt... a little weirdly structured. I mean honestly the film is an 8 for me and I am really really picky. :O

I found the film to be exceedingly entertaining and I really loved the wholesome acting of Linnea. After seeing it there are ALOT of takeaway feelings involved---

In closing I think the message of the film was to just give us a real glimpse of the adult entertainment world. Obviously the industry is changing now and pornstars/sex workers are getting rid of the middle man and producing their own content on sites like Onlyfans.

I've seen at least one doc on porn life and more than one film that shows it, so there wasn't much here that would shock me. I think the most striking thing about the film is how much of what we see could be true across the film industry - women cheapening themselves more or less willingly in hopes of getting ahead, a progressive surrender of idealism, some unpleasant surprises, decidng to work past them until one or does not decide the price is worth paying to get where you want to be. Much of what we see is the maturation or hardening - depending on your point of view - of someone coming to terms with the requirements of a predatory world (and porn is far from the only such world in LA) while - possibly less realistically - questioning the price of her own ambition. Apparently many of the performers here are actual porn performers, which mainly shows in their ease in certain scenes. But there is a lot of good emotional life in their work as well. Anyone who watches this mainly for the sex is likely to be disappointed - there are non-porn related films with more overt sexual scenes - and some might find it simply hard to watch at times. But it's a real story with a real progress and real relationships that happens to be set in the world of porn.

Contrary to what a number of reviewers enthuse about this film, there is nothing "revolutionary" about it as far as edgy European filmmakers are concerned. In fact, the likes of Paul Verhoeven, Gaspard Noe and Ulrich Seidl did much of the heavy lifting several years before, in terms of explicit and frank cinema-verite material.

That said, this is a compelling, carefully researched slice-of-life movie with a central performance for the ages, and it's coming from perfect newcomer Sofia Kappel. With a less game actress, this could have been just another "Showgirls".

The director's insistence on sticking to crushing realism means that there's a complete lack of Hollywood moments, twists and turns, and no artificial tension -- which would admittedly make the whole affair an easier watch. It's never boring, but there's a distinct documentarist feel to everything, which does kill any budding drama.

Make no mistake, this is a European art movie, transplanted to the LA p*rn scene.

It's pretty much true that everytime there's a mainstream movie about the adult industry, it always focuses on the extremes on one end; where there tends to be a very anti-porn industry undertone that guides these movies.

So when you're making a movie about the industry with many actual performers showing up as themselves, there was the risk of it being extreme on the pro-industry end. But to my pleasant surprise, the movie composed itself with a lot of nuance on both ends of the argument to share its story without a strong bias on either side; something I very much appreciate. Pleasure is a very decent movie, but with very little originality in my opinion. Yes, I liked its tone overall, but the story plays out exactly the way you'd think it would by the first 15 minutes. It certainly wasn't boring, but it never captivated as much as it had the potential to, and that's something I wish this movie could have done different.

Overall however, it was a decent watch, but more importantly, it was made with the right frame of mind... and that's what truly stood out to me.

A girl from Sweden decides she wants to make it in the LA porn scene and become a star.

The movie starts with her landing in LAX airport and subsequently being housed in a rental for girls in the porn industry (a common practice).

The movie holds no punches as it shows the way an adult performer becomes a commodity and how time is money.

A few sympathetic characters however most are shallow and some are cruel.

This movie does not hold back and is pretty much accurate in how the porn business is.

She has to decide whether to roll with it or to take a stand on principles, oh how a day can change one's mind.

Some cameos by real porn stars and crew, actors were great especially the lead.

Definitely one to see.