Pornography is a tricky subject for mainstream or even respectable arthouse cinema, forcing film-makers to walk a fine line: veil or sanitise the subject too much and you lose any sense of authenticity; lean too far into its taboo realities and you risk running afoul of the censors yourself. Two new-to-streaming films take differing (and differently gendered) approaches to the American porn industry’s consumption of its performers.
Swedish director Ninja Thyberg’s striking debut, Pleasure, challenges viewers with frank imagery and endurance-testing scenes of sexual exploitation – though rather than feeling like a leering provocation, there’s a clinical ring of truth to it. Out now on Mubi (after a one-night-only cinema stint last week), it’s a tough, de-glittered spin on an oft-told story: young ingenue arrives in Los Angeles with stars in her eyes, only for her dreams to curdle on her. Except that Swedish immigrant Linnéa (an extraordinary Sofia Kappel) isn’t wholly disillusioned in the process.
