PLEASURE directed by Ninja Thyberg (Sweden, 2021)

When Bella Cherry (not her real name) arrives in America from Sweden, the customs officer asks if her visit is for business or pleasure. Bella replies “Pleasure” with a wry smile. After watching this movie, I’d say she gave the wrong answer.  Having lots of sex would normally count as a pleasurable activity but when this is done for money in a mechanical, ritualistic manner then, just as in prostitution,  it falls squarely into the category of business.

It is soon clear that Thyberg’s objective is not to make a feminist movie or to criticise pornography.  We see a male dominated world in which the women consent to be exploited and abused knowing full well the implications and content of the encounters beforehand.  

Of course, how these women come to be there in the first place begs numerous questions about their place in a patriarchal society but this first time director has no interest in exploring this question nor, indeed, in portraying women as victims. The main signs that the scenes come from a female perspective derive from the fact that the most explicit nudity is in close-ups of erections and in the way the increasingly violent sex scenes are shot from Stella’s POV.  

Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature is notable for the authentically detailed and bold insight it gives into the behind the scenes workings of the porn industry. We see, for instance, how Bella has to sign carefully prepared contracts to avoid any later accusations of exploitation.

Female performers are asked to nominate their dos and don’ts. It is immediately obvious that the more one consents to, the higher the salary and status is. This is a microcosm of the capitalist labour market whereby the agents are no better than pimps. As in any successful corporation, the more the worker cedes control to the bosses the better.

The fact that many of the actors are prominent figures in the lucrative porn industry is proof  that this movie is not setting out to criticise or to make moral judgements. On the contrary, the glamorous parties, designer clothes and luxury hotels illustrate many of its attractions. The performers include the ice-cool porn star Evelyn Claire (as Ava Rhodes) and the creepy ‘talent agent’ Mark Spiegler as himself.  The appropriately named Chris Cock plays Bear who explains to Stella that inter-racial scenes are considered extreme acts and adds that “if this sounds racist, it’s because it is racist.”

Stella’s progress from straight scenes to kinkier stuff coincides predictably with the rise in fame and followers. We see her submitting to ugly abuse and experiencing the agony (minus the ecstasy) of double anal penetration. Her contortions and grimaces are doubtless destined  to be taken for expressions of a perverse pleasure  by the target audience. Beyond this, her actual feelings are irrelevant.

By the end of the film, I was left wondering what the point of it all was. The performance by Sofia Kappel as Stella is impressive and believable but her character is neither interesting nor nuanced. All we know of her background is that she is escaping from the ‘boring’ Swedes to a more exciting world of Los Angeles.   

The plot of ‘Pleasure’ is so paper thin that it is in many respects little more than a warts and all documentary. The voyeuristic guilt prompted by the graphic content accurately mirrors real porn but, much like the emotionally vacuous world it depicts, the novelty soon wears off.