|
|
Christian (Hope Raymond) loves herself in the role of the mysterious
chair of The Foundation who holds masques once a month that on the surface
are supposed to be highly exclusive charity balls, but are actually sex
parties where the participants are encouraged to live out their
perversions, with Christian being the most desired trophy, and yet she
never leaves her merely observing position, and she really gets off on the
footage from the camera secretly installed into the location's only
bathroom, which is her best kept secret. Her world begins to crumble
though when she spots a guest at the ball not personally chosen by her,
Stella (Eliza Boivin), who isn't only a popular cam girl but also an
acquaintance from her high school years whom Christian thinks to be her
personal enemy. Later Christian finds out that it was her right hand man
Danny (Brian Smick) who has invited Stella to broaden their events'
appeal, and despite her reservations, Christian invites Stella back to her
next ball, and also Stella's boyfriend Jackson (Zachary Cowan),
Christian's first crush in high school. At that ball though, things don't
go quite as planned, as at one point Christian's senile mother (Valerie
Fachman) walks into the proceedings, Christian gets into a massive row
with Danny that ends with Danny quitting her employ, then Christian
witnesses Jackson raping someone via her secret toilet cam, but what's
worse, somebody spots the toilet, removes the SD card and makes portions
of the footage public - tarnishing Christian's reputation in the process.
Now Christian is sure that Stella is behind all of it - without even a
hint of proof -, but she also feels weirdly drawn to her. And as Christian
tries to fix things, they seem to be just falling apart even more ... A
very interesting psychosexual thriller that doesn't put its emphasis on
the erotic side of things - it's actually a surprisingly tame film given
its subject matter - but is much more a character study of its lead
character, who seems to be damaged goods even at the beginning but who
slowly comes apart over the course of the movie - and Hope Raymond plays
her very convincingly, keeping her performance grounded throughout and
avoiding hysterics unless absolutely necessary. And she's supported by a
very able cast, playing relatable characters, whom the movie's fittingly
subtle yet artsy direction gives enough space to breathe, making this a
pretty unusual but cool movie.
|
|
|