Dir. Ninja Thyberg
2021 | 108 mins | Sweden
Sofia Kappel, Revika Anne Reustle, Evelyn Claire

SHOWING TIMES:

• Fri 8 July: 8pm
• Sat 9 July: 6pm
• Sun 10 July: 7.30pm
• Wed 13 July: 8pm

Bella Cherry – née Linnéa (Sofia Kappel), a fresh-faced 19-year-old from a small Swedish town, determined to be the next adult-film star, takes us on an immersive journey of safe words, coercion, kindness, brutality, and bondage – beneath the halogen lit sets of L.A’s porn industry. A natural networker, self-promoter and performer, Bella Cherry’s (social media) stock soon rises, resulting in betrayal and broken friendships – a sacrifice she is willing to make to be taken on by the top agency in town.

Pleasure is a provocative and unflinching female insider’s view of the porn industry. The gaze is non-judgemental revealing the inner workings of a business that is dominated by men and where ruthless ambition, a command of social media and the ability to handle extreme scenes is the path to success. By turns unsettling, moving and mundane, the film’s great strength is its authenticity and how it humanises an industry that constructs a false reality of sex. Pleasure rarely comes into it.

Content Guidance:

This film contains scenes with strong drug use and some violent sex scenes, references and depictions of rape and sexual violence. It also contains flickering or flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy.

TRIPLE F-RATED:

Directed by a woman, written by a woman and starring a significant woman.

F-Rating is a new rating for films directed by women, written by women and/or with significant female characters on screen, in their own right. Find out more here >>

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>