One pleasure of watching and reviewing the work of burgeoning female filmmakers is the juxtaposition you feel in how sexual relationships are portrayed in their work versus more mainstream cinema. Courtney Hope Therond‘s Give It To Me is perhaps the most perfect representation of that. Exceedingly gentle and sex-positive, it drops the audience in the midst of a very fraught experience for our main character, Max. Attempting to overwrite a traumatic sexual experience, Max has hired a sex worker, Lucy, to recreate the encounter in a positive and controllable environment.
The whole dynamic devolves quickly into a panic when Max realizes her rigid control of the night is not fulfilling. We can sense the frustration and sadness through the performance of Olivia Cade. It’s the frantic breaking of a bottle of wine that sets up the back half of the film, when a beautiful and genuine connection is formed.
Disarming the manic performance of Cade is Mallory Corinne as Lucy. She conveys the necessary pause and gentleness the story needs to resolve. While bandaging Max up, Lucy takes the opportunity to initiate a slow, intimate, and consensual moment with Max. Therond’s camera operates in sultry close-ups in these final moments, communicating greater sensuality than at the beginning of the film. Then, as the sexual energy escalates, the camera backs away and Max closes the bathroom door, a clever send-up of the classic “pan to the sky” trick that movie-goers know so well.
A triumph in efficient storytelling, Therond has wowed me for the second time with her submissions for this year’s Femme Filmmakers Festival. With Give It To Me and Happy For You, her films never feel as though they are withholding or missing necessary context. She has a special talent for crafting a story that picks up in the middle of a greater dramatic scenario, but feels completely whole unto itself.
Discover more from Filmotomy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
