Q (2011)

Sexually super charged and a bit over excited, Q (also released under the title Desire) still manages to offer some commentary amidst its otherwise pornographic material.

Libertine sexual values are explored primarily through the main character, Cécile. She is uninhibited, promiscuous, and an expert at breaking social and sexual norms. Her hypersexuality is portrayed as twofold: it acts as a conduit for awakening desire in the people around her, but also exists as a byproduct of her own emotional self-neglect in the wake of her father's death.

Cécile sees herself as a mentor, helping to distinguish between sex, desire, and love, the last of which she finds particularly boring. She flirts with but often shoots down the over-eager Matt, who knows his own desires well but cannot discern those of his girlfriend (who is decidedly not Cécile). Cécile can often be heard essentially grading his efforts as he grows increasingly frustrated. But Matt remains only one of her projects.

In fact, Cécile has so many projects that the film thoroughly dirties itself in depicting them. The commitment to explicit scenes is well above the norm, with a high volume of unsimulated sex acts. These scenes possess impact, but largely due to the film's choice to be as graphic as humanly possible.

The end of the movie seems confused as it seems to speak with two voices.

On the one hand, Cécile and her friends establish sex work on their own terms and are very excited about diving into their new profession. Yet Cécile is ultimately pulled away by her boyfriend and forced to confront her grief surrounding her father's death. They drive away together and Cécile emotionally breaks through, telling her boyfriend, "I love you. Even if it won't always be easy." Most importantly, she scatters her father’s ashes.

The reviewer can't help but observe that the film both vindicates Cécile's behavior while also acknowledging that it is disordered. For the duration of the film her philosophy is shown as the dominant force that others are gravitating around; more than that, her treatment approaches lionization. It is only a last-minute declaration of love that offers some consideration that perhaps her behavior was not well informed or all-together positive.

Most movies with this much graphic material struggle to say anything at all. This film at least chooses to justify its lurid content with some actual conversation. Nonetheless, most traditional viewers will likely find Q to have limited to no appeal; those seeking erotic cinema may be more forgiving.