Sanctuary

And yet, somehow it's better than 50 Shades Of Grey! It's the same messed up, kinky sex thing. It's the same messed up, kinky relationship thing. And in the end, it's the same messed up, kinky love thing. I don't know why, but everything felt way better, deeper, and more visceral than 50 Shades. Maybe it's the directing? Maybe it's the acting? The screen-writing? Who knows? But I get more satisfaction from watching this movie than when I watched 50 Shades trilogy. Maybe because it's more concentrated than 50 Shades? I don't know. All I know is that this movie is more interesting than 50 Shades trilogy.

In a world that makes you feel fragile and brittle, you get your kicks from being ridiculed, belittled, cleaning round the toilet stem, while your taunter does condemn, as they wait for you to conjure, your remittal. It plays out to a strict script but then a tangent, as it seems you've come across a steeper descent, smoke and mirrors might explain, is this for real or just a game, just who's genuinely showing, their lament. All in all it's quite a curious entangle, although dependant on your perspective and angle, the dialogue creates, a connection, of love and hate, where two people force themselves right through the mangle.

Pointifully performative and bitingly funny-- as a rom-com *Sanctuary* is less of a character study and more of an intense single discussion between Christopher Abbott, Danita Battle, and he prying eye of the viewer. This does feel like a more twisted Netflix or Apple TV date night movie and while the cast carries the film, it does so through both the best of times and the worst of times. While the film's opening is gripping and sexy, and the ending emotionally powerful, very little happens between minute 30 and minute 85.

To make matters less convenient, the actors and filmmakers make it painfully obvious in the first 20 minutes that the Dom is in love with Hal and feels the need to demonstrate her value without telling her Sub, "I love you." That would ruin the power dynamic. The result, is a story that feels drawn with a few aimless scenes. I would expect this from a movie with 30 minute long scenes.

Films like this seem to rest in the strength of their cinematography, acting (mostly closeups), and the dramatic tension in the dialogue. Director Zachary Wigon, and writer Micah Bloomberg can relax because of the good acting and editing on display here (many movies do); however *Sanctuary* may have had stronger foundations and really stuck the landing if they didn't.

Nice actor showcase film. Both performed well, with Margaret showcasing her depth as a "screen takeover" actor. A rare thing to be seen. She fully dominates the role (both literally and figuratively).

It's an up and down ride of domination and submission, game or no game. Freedom or going with the narratives you're assigned in life.

It's also a love story of sorts, maybe not the healthiest, but that's how it goes sometimes in life. The acting really saves the issues with the overall dynamic and plot I had, and some unbearable scenes (the music/yelling scene I had to mute).

Overall it's a claustrophobic actor showcase film with only 2 characters. I found it engaging and packed with tension and great acting. 6.8/10.

The only reason I viewed this was because I've become sort of fascinated by the films that Christopher Abbott takes on. He is not remotely interested in the norm in his many indie films. I've also been impressed now and then by Margaret Qualley. I have now mentioned the entire cast of this film and for an hour and a half we watch these two strange people go at each other. He is a very rich man who has a kink about being dominated and she is a dominatrix. He wants to end these paid for "get-togethers", but she has other ideas. A lot of this is very unpleasant to view and I almost turned it off, but I'm glad that I didn't as it's an odd film, sort of a clever one, that only really provides some satisfaction because of its very final scene which out of the blue put a big smile on my face. That didn't really make it a very good film, but it did make it more interesting, sort of after the fact.