Okay, _Pleasure_ is an indie drama, through and through. It feels like a documentary on the porn industry, and the dialog must have been improvised in more than half of the movie.
The story is told from the point of view of our lead, Bella Cherry. She is equal parts ambitious, and in over her head.
While I appreciate how the film is perhaps taking an honest look at being in porn, as opposed to demonizing or romanticizing it, there is not a fleshed-out story here. I was onboard with wherever this was headed, but then it just ends.
We never get to know any information about Bella's past, which is fine, but then you have to complete her journey as is. I really feel like this was a missed opportunity. I'm just super disappointed there was no conclusion, just first act, second, credits.
Aside from the aforementioned issue, this is good. There is quite a lot of nudity, as one would expect, and I respect how the director strays from shooting actual penetration. Weird for me to say that, but this is not that kind of movie. Go see _Nymphomaniac_.
The movie also has several porn actors, which gives it a high level of authenticity.
Many strong moments here: I really felt Bella's initial alienation, followed by her bond with her housemates. On the other hand, there were some moments that were a little difficult to watch. If you're someone who is sensitive to any type of violent sex, steer clear.
It's a pity, I wanted to like this, and I did, for the most part. I just wish this had an actual ending.

Sofia Kappel, some performance!

As for 'Pleasure' as a whole, quite striking! They did a fantastic job at making every scene, particularly the porn set scenes, feel incredibly real - it feels documentary-esque at a fair few points. It's an erotic drama and, well, a genre has seldom been so apt. It portrays the porn industry in an unfortunately believable and uncomfortable way. I felt uneasy for the majority, but that's very much the intention.

No doubt these type of films aren't to a lot of people's taste, but if they are - I'd recommend this 2021 release.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this film. I read that it was good, but I felt uncomfortable with the subject matter because it dives so deep into the world of pornography and I had read that it can be pretty graphic. And it was.

Sofia Kappel is **not** a good actress. I'm convinced that she landed this role because of her willingness to partake in these graphic scenes, but she's basically an emotionless robot for the entire film and you are not drawn to her or connect with her in any way. In fact, you don't get drawn to or connected to **anyone** in this film, all of them are mostly unlikable people.

I was quite shocked at seeing real porn stars with actual erections (not fake CGI or prosthetic members) being stroked. I mean, it was very graphic! And it happened repeatedly.

Here is my mixed feeling: this film made me very uncomfortable and I found myself fast-forwarding through a lot of this movie - some because it was boring, some because it was too uncomfortable. That may be the point, to make you uncomfortable and if it is then they succeeded and the movie makers did a good job.

Don't expect stellar acting here. The lead is not a good actress and a lot of the rest of the cast are actual porn stars - who are not historically good actors in anything. If you want to peek behind the curtain at how pornography is done, this gives you that in a raw and uncensored way. While many other porn-genre movies show the extremely seedy underbelly of porn, this one shows you what I feel is a realistic view of it not being quite as seedy but certainly being very unappealing to be a part of.