I went to see this one when it was released in May. While several things have been standing in the way of writing about it, it has been on my to-do list ever since. As the wave of Puritanical “anti-sex-in-movies” rhetoric has continued to grow this year, Sanctuary is a firm reminder of how sex on the big screen can be much more malleable and meaningful than its detractors are willing to acknowledge.
On the verge of taking over his late father’s empire, a wealthy heir attempts to cut ties with a dominatrix who has satisfied his need for humiliation for years. She doesn’t take the news of her forced retirement too well, and the pair engage in an intensifying tug-of-war over the risk/benefit assessment of their arrangement.
Zachary Wigon’s sophomore feature came with substantial buzz attached, at least within some film circles I frequent. I know multiple people who were incredibly excited about this, and I saw it advertised religiously. Although, much of that was in front of other independent films that I tend to gravitate towards, and I do tend to go to the movies more than most. Still, that buzz comes from somewhere and the trailer itself was a great sales pitch.
From what I gathered, a large portion of the appeal was centered around Margaret Qualley. I had seen her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Nice Guys, and a little bit of IO but, with the benefit of hindsight, I see why she was a draw. Her confidence is palpable and when she switches gears between seductress, boss bitch, and jilted lover the transitions happen so smoothly that it’s difficult to tell which layer of the performance is the real character. She just as easily barks instructions at her slave, disrobed and humiliated, as she negotiates the terms of her quiet resignation, and it’s captivating.
The primary draw for me though was Christopher Abbott. Not quite the Hollywood star that his talent will likely one day materialize for him, Abbott continues to take on challenging roles that interest me. Stuff like Possessor, Black Bear, On the Count of Three, and James White showcase not just his talent but his unique brand of simmering intensity that is also on display here. It’s explosive and I mean that in a good way because even when the performance is feeling lighter or requires humor, there is something else there lurking beneath the surface that lends itself to darker stuff like this.
Its genres are listed as “drama” and “thriller” but that’s not at all how I read this one. It may be easier to sort of group it that way, but what I saw was a dark comedy romance. While there is a necessary tension between the characters, Micah Bloomberg’s screenplay is really a story of two people who are in love but don’t quite know it yet. Albeit a strange kind of love, when you unpack the dialogue it is not so much about the kink side of the equation or the threats being hurled around but rather about the value they bring to one another’s lives. Sort of like a couple having an explosive argument where horrible things get said and but in the end, they both realize that their relationship issue stems from a place where they both genuinely care about the other and reconcile. Bloomberg is showing us that love is often complicated. Messy, chaotic, and volatile. And he is using the guise of a thriller to do it.
I love minimalism! So, this story centered around just two people having a very intimate and intense discussion (mainly) within the confines of a hotel suite is my cinematic love language. It plays like a stage performance but it’s brisk at just over an hour and a half and I’m sure the 18-day shoot helped up the ante, but Wigon didn’t let the audience settle into any one angle too long. You have to get creative with small spaces to keep things interesting and Ludovica Isidori’s shot selection maximized a limited set.
You could tell this story with some fixed camera positions and really hone in on the personal element the actors are bringing to the lens, but I liked that the camera had an attitude. It moves, it lurks, it follows, it lingers and all of that enhances the turbulent nature of the interaction we are witnessing. I could understand that it may be offputting to some, but it enhanced the experience for me. I wish I could have found a good picture of it, but I’ll include the trailer where you can see some of what I’m describing.
As you can see, there are many reasons why I enjoyed this film but what I may appreciate most was how it utilized sex on screen at a time when the conversation around eliminating sex from films has heated up again. There is on-screen sex but it doesn’t come across as gratuitous. To the best of my recollection (it has been several weeks) there isn’t any nudity despite it being a sex-forward film with an R rating and at least a foot in the BDSM world.
This is a story about eroticism and arousal, and the value we can get from those indulgences. Shifting the focus to nudity would undermine those themes and Wigon adeptly avoids the low-hanging fruit in favor of a more intricate power struggle and the idea that you can truly find yourself in the most unlikely of places. That’s why it shot up to the top of my favorites at that point in the year.
Recommendation: See it for the performances and to stick it to the puritanical crowd. The audience for this was always going to be relatively niche. It hasn’t been universally heralded by critics and it didn’t do well at the box office either, but whether or not you’re going to be disappointed revolves solely around your own expectations.
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