Review of Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) by Stuart B — 18 Jun 2015

Trashy and exploitative, Fifty Shades of Grey is a provocative piece of escapist fantasy. In this dark and sadistic tale, a young woman named Anastasia Steele is drawn into a controlling and abusive relationship that's cloaked in eroticism.

Both the story and the characters are poorly written, and the performances by Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan aren't very good. Also, the sex scenes don't feel congruent with the tone of the rest of the film; which undermines the development of the characters and their relationship.

And while there's an attempt to make Anastasia empowered, she's really isn't, and is emotionally and physically abused to break her of her puritanical views of sex and romance. Fifty Shades of Grey is a vapid and pointless film that tries to get by on shock value.