My Mistress is a riveting tale of a not-so-young anymore Queensland guy who crosses path with an alluring French lady who works in the BDSM world to make ends meet.
While BDSM’s themes have been featured in art-house movies for quite some time, there is evidence that they are gaining traction with audiences of all stripes in recent years. With movies like “50 Shades of Grey” and Peter Strickland’s delightfully kinky “The Duke of Burgundy” BDSM has genuinely arrived in mainstream cinema. However, in this romance-drama film, “My Mistress,” (find here on Amazon Prime) which is partly based on the Australian writer-director Stephen Lance’s childhood trauma, he tried to explore the healing potential of erotic role-playing and sadomasochism.
Without a shadow of a doubt, what director Stephen Lance is able to accomplish with this microanalytic technique of investigating the extremes of human emotions through the parameters of bodily poles of pleasure and agony works far better than the majority of other approaches. This may be because he relies less on the over-the-top, in-your-face, on-screen acting out of the whips and chains and torture and agony that always seem so false when trying to make a story and instead focuses on why these extremes of acting out represent needs and psychological holds that need to be patched.
What Exactly is “My Mistress” About?
“My Mistress” is a 2014 Australian drama film, starring Emmanuelle Béart, Harrison Gilbertson, and Rachael Blake. The film tells the story of a teenage boy named Charlie, who begins a forbidden and intense relationship with his beautiful French S&M mistress, Maggie.
The lead role of Charlie is played by Harrison Gilbertson (Need for Speed), who portrays an intense 16-year-old loner who arrives home one day to find his father has hanged himself in the garage as his mother (Rachael Blake) and her friends are having a party in the house. The grief-stricken and angry adolescent blames his mother for his father’s passing, especially after he learns that his mother has been having an affair with his late father’s closest friend. This further fuels his anger toward his mother.
Charlie’s Attraction
Charlie rebels against his mother and chooses to pursue an uncertain friendship with Maggie (Beart), a mysterious French beauty who has just recently moved into an isolated manor house in the neighborhood. He does this even though the family home has been declared a “crime scene.” Charlie bags and harasses Maggie until she finally gives in and agrees to hire him as her gardener, despite her initial refusal to work with him. Charlie’s attraction to his new boss grows stronger, so he starts following her around and discovers that she is a dominatrix who holds S&M sessions with wealthy male clients. This piques his sensual curiosity to the highest level.
The notion of a young guy getting his sexual awakening at the hands of an experienced woman in her forties or fifties has been a cinematic mainstay ever since before the release of The Graduate. This trope reached its lowest point in the early 1980s with racy trash like Private Lessons and Class. Although Lance starts My Mistress in a very dark place, which hints that the rest of the film would be more unorthodox, it appears that in the end, he is unable to resist the temptation of comical archetypes over more emotionally messy and psychologically complicated drama. In the event that more traditional viewers are feeling prudish and critical, he even provides Maggie with an alibi that is ethically unimpeachable, although it justifies her scandalously oversexualized Frenchness. The MILF of human kindness lurks just below the surface of her raunchy femme fatale persona.
My Mistress Delves into Topics Like Taboo, Love, Obsession, and BDSM
The movie explores the themes of taboo, love, and obsession, and BDSM elements are present throughout the film. The relationship between the two characters is portrayed in a realistic and nuanced way. Throughout the film, BDSM practices such as whipping, bondage, and role-playing are depicted as a means of coping with Maggie’s own past traumas and as a way for her to exert control and power in her life. The film also delves into the power dynamic between the two characters and how it evolves over the course of the story.
The performances by the lead actors, Emmanuelle Béart and Harrison Gilbertson, are praised as powerful and convincing. The cinematography is beautiful, and the music is well-crafted. Overall, “My Mistress” is a well-made and thought-provoking film that handles its controversial subject matter with maturity and sensitivity. It’s not for everyone, but those who are open to its themes will find a powerful and intense story.
The film also delves into the power dynamic between the two characters and how it evolves throughout the story. The BDSM practices in the film are portrayed in a realistic and nuanced way, with the consent and boundaries of the characters being respected.
The Power Dynamic Between Emmanuelle Beart and Harrison Gilbertson
In the movie “My Mistress,” the power dynamics between the characters Emmanuelle Béart and Harrison Gilbertson are pretty obvious and intriguing. Emmanuelle Béart plays the role of Maggie, a French S&M mistress, and Harrison Gilbertson plays the role of Charlie, a teenage boy who becomes involved in a relationship with her.
At the beginning of the film, Maggie holds power in the relationship as she is the experienced and confident dominant figure. She is in control of the BDSM practices and sets the boundaries and rules for their relationship. Conversely, Charlie is an inexperienced and curious teenager who is drawn to Maggie’s allure and power.
As the relationship progresses, the dynamic power shifts and becomes more complex. Maggie starts to open up to Charlie and share her past traumas and vulnerabilities with him, and he starts to take on a more nurturing and caring role. On the other hand, Charlie begins to become more confident and assertive in expressing his own desires and needs and starts to challenge Maggie’s dominance.
Is There any Negative Portrayal of BDSM in The Movie My Mistress?
The BDSM practices and fetishes are featured as a prominent theme in the film “My Mistress,” and the film aims to present them in a realistic and nuanced way while respecting the characters’ permission and boundaries. However, how the BDSM practices are portrayed in the movie might raise questions or problems for certain viewers.
Some may see the interaction between the adult woman and the teenage boy in the film as immoral and troubling. Additionally, some sequences may be upsetting to some viewers because the film deals with prior traumas and coping techniques. There wasn’t mention of mutual consent at the beginning of the movie, as Charlie forces Maggie to play with him (during the scene where he locked himself in her house). Otherwise, it follows the stereotypical BDSM.
Bottom Line
My Mistress is the story of a not-so-little child who finds comfort in the arms of an alluring older woman who works in latex, literally cracks whips, indulges in sadomasochism and bondage, and has role-play obsessions. It’s basically a dark drama about two broken lives colliding, their love, and the courage and support they give one another to handle the nightmares in their own lives. Although the two main characters are both in various states of desperation, the movie takes its time so that we may truly understand the breadth and circumstances of both their past and present sufferings, reaches the appropriate conclusion. When you have uninterrupted time to watch indeed, it’s worth viewing!
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