I had to take my wife, kicking and screaming (no pun intended) to this movie about a dominatrix and her rich client. Luckily it was at the Angelika Film Center, where we could sit comfortably in our reclining seats, while watching a story that could get uncomfortable at times.
This is Zachary Wigon’s second film, and it tackles some complex issues between two characters while the power dynamics keep switching.
The script could be derivative [the various films I thought of during this were Hard Candy, The Conversation, War of the Roses, Fifty Shades of Gray, Carnal Knowledge, Fatal Attraction, and Punch Drunk Love]. But the dialogue was sharp enough that it still worked. The script (by Micah Bloomberg) was also helped by this being a two-hander (again, no pun intended) with two incredible performances by Margaret Qualley (nepo baby of Andie MacDowell) and Christopher Abbott (who was so great in On the Count of 3, which was criminally underseen).
So, shallow Hal (Abbott) hires dominatrix Rebecca (Qualley), who shows up at his hotel room with a form she has to get filled out. This is one of many times the film won’t go in the directions you think it will, and that makes it kind of fun. The cinematography also really livens things up, especially since it’s all set in one hotel suite.
The plot thickens (stop it! That’s not a pun either!), when we find out Hal is set to take over the billion dollar hotel enterprise his dad has left him. He thinks it might not be a good idea to continue this type of arrangement, so he breaks things off. Rebecca is having none of it. We think she’s just acting bratty when she starts making demands. She claims to have a hidden camera in the room and will expose their rendezvous to the board of directors. As he smashes up the room looking for the camera, she manically dances to “Heaven Must Have Sent You” by Bonnie Pointer. It’s a glorious scene.
The acting is so great, even in close-ups – with Abbott and his puppy dog look and dopey eyes, or Qualley’s eyes darting back and forth as one of her lies doesn’t seem to be landing.
I felt there were a few times characters did stupid things, and it would have worked better if they were both extremely smart as they played each other. Things also got predictable, and some things were a tad repetitive. It’s also a bit problematic that once she plays the blackmail card, it’s hard to ever sympathize with her. It might have played better for me if we could have our sympathies bounce back and forth between the two characters, but after the attempt to extort him, there’s no way I wanted a positive outcome for her.
That makes it all the more surprising when they ended it in a way I didn’t see coming, and was very, very satisfying (I was going to even light up a cigarette).
Let this be a cautionary tale, you should never judge a book by its cover…nor a dominatrix by her leather.
3 stars out of 5. And surprisingly, my wife liked it more (at least we both found a more fun way for me to start cleaning the bathroom).