X
- 2022
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 49 m
- 2022
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 49 m
Summary Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature film is a journey into the Los Angeles porn industry through the lens of newcomer Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel). Strong, self-confident and determined, Bella embarks on amission to become the best at any cost.
Written By: Peter Modestij
- 2022
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 49 m
- 2022
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 49 m
Pleasure
75
6.0
Where to Watch
Summary Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature film is a journey into the Los Angeles porn industry through the lens of newcomer Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel). Strong, self-confident and determined, Bella embarks on amission to become the best at any cost.
Written By: Peter Modestij
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
75
83% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
17% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
75
83% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
17% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A stirring debut by both Thyberg and Kappel and a daring picture that makes you love it, not for tawdry reasons but for all of the truthful crimes, perils and delights it covers.
“Shocking” is a word that gets thrown around too frequently. But it’s all too fitting for Swedish director Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure, a graphic, gripping, and unflinching drama charting the rocky rise of an ambitious newcomer to the adult film industry.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.0
47% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
41% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.0
47% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
41% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
I believe the negative evaluations are due to the pain experienced while viewing Ninja Thyberg's first true feature film. The research that went into this provides us a unique perspective on the pornographic business and what it takes to succeed in it. I didn't find anything scary or surprising, which I appreciated since Ninja Thybergs took it to its logical conclusion. The tale was adequate for the subject matter, which is a superficial world.
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The director wanted to put a spiritual burden into the film, but he was not successful. The film used many man porn stars, but unlike the female celebrities, the point here is that the film shows the evils of the porn industry, but it still wants to defend this industry and in The last word of this arena is much worse than this and this censorship that I don't show many things and no one has the courage to attack this arena completely.
کارگردان می‌خواسته بار معنوی وارد فیلم بکنه اما موفق نبوده فیلم خیلی از پورن استار های مطرح کرد استفاده کرده اما برخلاف از از معروف های زن کمتر نکته اینجاست فیلم بدی های عرصه پورن رو نشونت میده اما بازم میخواد این عرصه رو تو چشت فرو بکننه و در کلام آخر این عرصه خیلی بدتر از ایناست و این سانسوره که خیلی چیزا رو نشون نمیدم و کسی هم جرات حمله کامل به این عرصه رو نداره
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Pleasure is not a morally proscriptive film and seeks neither to venerate nor condemn pornography, but to depict its hollowing effect on those who make it. The film’s title is not accidental; at a time when porn is freely and ubiquitously available, the price of gratification may be cheap, but there is always a cost to be paid.
I really appreciate the bold narrative that Thyberg and co-writer Peter Modestij crafted. It is sex-positive, it takes no prisoners, and it grabs your attention from word one to the final frame.
As a conversation-starter, though, Pleasure hits all the spots – and sometimes soars far beyond thanks to the work of Kappel, whose performance is absolutely committed, fearless and entrancing.
I think Thyberg could have found even more to mine in a fully nonfiction movie; the biggest drawback of Pleasure is that it follows a fabricated protagonist who’s remote and one-dimensional. Bella is so defined by her stock story that it’s hard to grasp what’s motivating her beyond a desire for success, and the film gets bogged down in this staid narrative.
Thyberg clearly set out to create a hysteria-free look at the industry, taking on the challenge of critiquing structural issues without casting judgments on the idea of having sex on camera. Pleasure succeeds at this, though not without a cost. It’s a clear-eyed treatment of porn wedded to a character study that never comes to life.
"A female gaze to expose the male gaze," that's how director Ninja Thyberg describes 'Pleasure,' her debut feature film. As an exploration of the porn industry, the movie uses a documentary-like approach to follow the professional experience of Bella Cherry, a Swedish porn star wannabe that thinks it's up to the challenge until the dark side of it takes its toll. 'Pleasure' is hard to look at during some moments, and newcomer Sofia Kappel makes a remarkable job as a young woman conflicted about what every male, agent, actor, or director is asking of her. The film, of course, critiques the patriarchal system embedded in this industry, where women are made to believe that they're working in safe spaces, when in fact they're not, at least in some cases. Thyberg also addresses another side of it — a more artistic one — where women are in charge.
The main problem with it is the lack of character development. The screenplay loses focus on Bella when a specific situation about the industry is denounced. Also, the visual department is not that engaging. Yes, the sex scenes are handled very well and with respect, but the movie loses some appeal by not taking a little more risk in that area. Reminded me of 'Sweat' sometimes, but not in a good way.
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OK, so I’m prepared to be branded a clueless male when it comes to my assessment of writer-director Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature about women in the porn industry, but I’ll go on the record and out on a limb to say I just didn’t get much of what this offering is trying to say. As a treatise on the objectification and degradation of women in a male-dominated industry, yes, it makes that point loud and clear, with deliberate, unbridled justification. But it does so in a story involving a young protagonist who willingly leaves her home in Sweden and relocates to Los Angeles with the intent of wanting to become the next big female porn star. Doesn’t that scenario speak to an ambition that she voluntarily wishes to pursue? What’s more, she freely agrees to do challenging and shocking scenes involving violence and humiliation only to want to back out of them after starting to shoot. I can’t help but wonder, what did she expect going in to these projects? It’s as if she were utterly clueless, the personification of naïvete, making me wonder, how could she have possibly agreed to those terms if she didn’t have any idea of what she was getting herself into? It’s not that I don’t sympathize with her feelings, but her intention and reaction under these circumstances just don’t jibe for me, making me wonder what exactly did the filmmaker have in mind here, a question made all the more puzzling considering how the protagonist’s story ultimately plays out. Fault the writing here, given a haphazardly constructed story and screenplay, along with a lack of back story to explain how it all came together to begin with. Moreover, lead actress Sofia Kappel simply isn’t up to the task of carrying out the role, lacking the acting chops, charisma and (at the risk of being crass) looks to pull this off. And, in a story involving titillating subject matter, the simulated porn is itself, frankly, dull – not the least bit provocative, troubling or the slightest bit sexy but more disjointed, clinical and tedious. This one represents a missed opportunity to make some kind of meaningful statement, given that the central premise of its narrative is anything but groundbreaking, new or revelatory, just obvious. How this one captured a host of honors and nominations at film festivals and awards competitions is beyond me. Skip it.
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This is a porn movie, enough said, bring down the porn industry as much as you can. It is addictive , destructive and has ties with illegal activities.
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Production Company
Plattform Produktion,
Film i Väst,
Sveriges Television (SVT),
Lemming Film,
Logical Pictures,
Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI),
Nederlands Filmfonds,
Netherlands Film Production Incentive,
Nordisk Film & TV-Fond,
Flamboyance Films,
Grand Slam Film Production
Release Date May 13, 2022
Duration 1 h 49 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
Guldbagge Awards
• 3 Wins & 7 Nominations
Art Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Göteborg Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations