Every decade or so, narrative cinema explores the despondent underbelly of the porn industry from the point-of-view of one of its ingenues (Star 80, Meet Monica Velour, Lovelace, Starlet, etc.). Pleasure offers a more honest depiction than all the aforementioned combined. Bella Cherry’s (Sofia Kappel) reason for jetting over 5,000 miles to work in America has nothing to do with daddy issues. The 19-year old likes what she sees and besides, the guys in Sweden are boring. What begins with a simple boy/girl encounter rapidly progresses to a point where the sex and violence for the young fetish model become one and the same. Writer-director Ninja Thyberg stumbles but never faceplants. It’s just a matter of time before the actresses turn on each other and except for a brief, Nancy Reagan-like reminder that drugs are bad and a surprise shot of a male performer using a needle to enhance performance, the film goes out of its way to downplay drug use. (Perhaps that's why so many industry insiders consented to appear.) And don’t let looks fool you. Real-life talent agent Mark Spiegler bears less of a resemblance to a star-maker than he does the homunculus hired to muck out the stalls of an adult book store. (2022) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.