PLEASURE: The Pain of It All

Following its selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival (that never happened) and the 2021 Sundance Film Festival (that did), Pleasure has finally come to theaters in the United States. The feature film debut of Swedish director Ninja Thyberg, based on her 2013 short of the same name, chronicles the ups and downs of one young woman’s quest to become the world’s next big porn star.

Starring newcomer Sofia Kappel and an ensemble cast of adult industry performers⁠—some of whom have said they feel hard done by the film’s portrayal of their industry⁠—Pleasure is an eye-opening and eyebrow-raising look at what women in porn often endure on the road to the top. Yet when one strips away the shock value inherent in the film’s subject matter, one is left wanting something more.

The New Girl in Town

Nineteen-year-old Bella Cherry (Kappel) arrives in Los Angeles from her homeland of Sweden with the single-minded goal of becoming a famous porn star. Throughout the film, people ask her why she wants to do this; she mostly hems and haws and tells joking lies about past abuse that never happened, but when it comes down to it, she just likes performing for the camera⁠—and it’s something she’s good at. Indeed, Bella is confident in her abilities, almost to a fault; she doesn’t yet realize that there’s so much more to being successful in porn than being incredibly hot and willing to do anything on camera.

Bella moves into a house with several other performers, all managed by Mike (Jason Toler). One of the girls, Joy (Revika Anne Reustle), takes Bella under her wing and teaches her everything from how to properly pose for photographs to how to create and sell video clips to build her brand online. Meanwhile, Bella obsesses over the social media of Ava (Evelyn Claire), a popular porn star on the rise who is managed by one of the most sought-after agents in the industry, Mark Spiegler (playing himself). Bella is impatient to have Ava’s level of success and will do almost anything to get it. But will it be worth it?

Behind the Curtain

The most intriguing sequences in Pleasure are those that purport to provide a behind-the-scenes look at how porn is actually made. When she arrives for her first shoot, Bella must not only sign a great deal of paperwork, but also appear on camera showing her ID and stating that she is legal, aware of what she has been asked to do that day, and willing to do it. The shoot that follows involves a very small crew; the man who is her co-star is essentially also the director and cameraman, shooting the entire scene from his viewpoint as he and Bella have sex. Yet it is all shown as very professional, with Bella’s comfort during the scene placed above all else, and her bonding with the crew over a joint at the end.

In another sequence⁠—one of my favorites in the entire film⁠—Bella arrives on set to work with a woman director known for BDSM scenes. Bella’s co-star is an incredibly tattooed man whose tough appearance (and sadistic role in the scene) belies his actual personality: he’s a polite and gentle guy who is super enthusiastic about mobile games. And everyone involved with the shoot is a pro, ensuring Bella has safe words at the ready and doesn’t end up doing anything too wild without consenting first.

Despite Bella’s role as the submissive in the scene, the entire sequence is incredibly empowering, inspiring her to request more “rough” scenes in the future. But as we see in the incredibly harrowing sequence that follows, not every shoot prioritizes safety and responsibility for the stars⁠—especially the women. Bella is subjected to repeated, lengthy, extreme sexual abuse at the hands of two male stars, with only one other man in the room. At first, when Bella expresses discomfort, they treat her sweetly and compliment her on her strength in the scene. But when Bella asks for the scene to stop, their attitudes abruptly change, insulting her and making her feel guilty for not being able to go through with it.

Scenes like this are incredibly tough to watch but supposedly provide an honest, no-holds-barred glimpse at the dark side of the porn industry. Yet some of the adult performers in the film have said that scenes like this almost never occur due to the protocols that exist. Others say that Pleasure focuses too much on scenes like this and other negative sides of porn and that Thyberg essentially tricked them into making something that they thought would be highlighting the feminist, sex-positive side of the industry.

Whether or not Pleasure is actually an authentic portrayal of the industry⁠—goodness knows the film’s marketing portrays it as documentary-adjacent, albeit still fictional⁠—is not something I am entitled to judge. However, what I can judge is the film’s storytelling, and that is less than satisfying. Bella’s journey to porn stardom doesn’t involve many steps we haven’t seen treaded a million times before in other movies; it’s just that this time, they involve a lot of nudity and kink that one doesn’t often see in the multiplex.

The characters in Pleasure are little more than archetypes: the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed newcomer; the experienced performer who is too jaded to be shocked anymore; the cool girl who claims she “isn’t here to make friends;” the bubbly bestie who is guaranteed to be betrayed by Bella when the moment calls for it⁠—and it is clear that moment is coming from the moment Joy and Bella first bond, to the point that it isn’t shocking, only disappointing. And how many more times do we need to see girls stabbing each other in the back onscreen? Female friendships deserve better than these cliches at this point.

Despite the film giving us next to no background on Bella and her motivations, Kappel is indeed marvelous to watch, making Bella easy to root for as she navigates this challenging, confusing world. She’s obviously gorgeous, but she also has presence, which is a far rarer quality than mere beauty. And Reustle is adorable as Joy. I’d have loved a version of Pleasure that focused on the friendship between these two women, one that showed them standing by each other and standing up for each other as others tried to take advantage of them. That would have been far more intriguing⁠—and feminist⁠—than the story Thyberg and co-writer Peter Modestij ended up deciding to tell instead.

Conclusion

Once you remove the explicit content, there’s not that much about Pleasure that is truly revolutionary, or even rebellious.

What do you think? Are you intrigued by Pleasure? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Pleasure opened in theaters in the U.S. on May 13 and will open in the UK on June 17, 2022. You can find more international release dates here.

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