Pleasure (2021)

Yet another interesting release from Mubi, Pleasure is an unflinching look at the adult film industry, experiencing it from the point of nineteen-year-old porn star wannabe, Linnea (a truly excellent performance from Sofia Kappel). The films’ opening sequence sees the Swedish Linnea arriving in Los Angeles, being asked at passport control whether her trip is for business or pleasure. She pauses before answering ‘pleasure’, and although the moment is low key it suggests the naivety of the young Linnea; she’s there to be the best, and the scene invokes that she might think she’ll love her job as well. She soon realises she might have to expand her repertoire if she’s to exceed; in a meeting early on she states what she’s willing and unwilling to do for a shoot, whereas the girl alongside her professes that she’s eager to do anything. The film doesn’t to do much to dispel the idea that the industry is exploitative, but neither does it suggest that all its actresses are ‘damaged’ or have had abusive upbringings. Indeed, when Linnea is asked for her backstory she jokes that her Father abused her, and then laughs at the apparent myth that she’s just spouted. It’s easy to be reminded of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1998), although Pleasure is a lot more explicit and difficult to watch in places as Linnea decides she needs to go down the more extreme route of porn to get noticed, and is exposed to the possible degradation and exploitation that you can fall foul of if you’re not fully aware of the ins and outs. Directors have attempted to depict porn as an art form before, most notably Gasper Noe in Love 3D (2015), an unbelievably dull film that spawned from a genuinely interesting premise. Pleasure makes no attempt to sell porn as art; it gives you the grottiness of how it can be for newcomers (that's not to say it can’t be unpleasant at any level) but what it does suggest is that this sort of exploitation takes place in every industry, but it’s easier to expose through a form that is often controversial. Ninja Thyberg has produced a fine film that grips and shocks you, keeps you involved throughout, and most importantly doesn’t force an opinion down your throat; it tells you a story that doesn’t depict every one made in the industry, but certainly gives you an insight into the damage it can do when it goes wrong. 8.1/10