Review of Shortbus (2006) by Danny R — 27 Jul 2015

John Cameron Mitchell's compelling and salacious slice of sex-laden cinema. Mitchell interweaves three separate tales of highly sexed and sexually frustrated young New Yorkers, all of whom find some kind of salvation at an underground club named Shortbus.

Anything goes at Shortbus, wild orgies between lonely singles, gay-couples, transsexuals, people from different ages, backgrounds. But be warned that all of the on screen sex is real, with full-frontal, and almost nonstop sex.

Mitchell allows little time for his audience to pause for breath, opening the film with a frantic collage of copulation and carnality that features most of his central characters. These include Sofia, superbly played by the sexy Sook-Yin Lee, as a sex therapist who has never reached full orgasm; gay couple James, played well-played by Paul Dawson, who begins the movie by fellating himself, and has suicidal thoughts, and Jamie, nicely played by PJ DeBoy; and Severin, played solidly by Lindsay Beamish, a dominatrix who finds herself unable to find true love.

Good direction by Mitchell, who also wrote the screenplay, he lets his cast of characters unravel their tales of woe, interspersing the touching and mostly sad stories. Mitchell's fearless and uncompromising vision that he depicts sexual acts that run the full coital gamut, from amusing to titillating to shocking.

Interesting film to be sure, but not for all tastes. Released without a rating to avoid an NC-17 tag. Recommended.