Why you can trust 12DOVE
A softcore take on Pauline Reage's classic 1965 novel, banned to bits on its original 1975 release, but now scrubbed up for a limited London release. Clery is the titular Parisian fashion photographer, a sexual masochist who spurns autonomy in favour of absolute submission to lover Rene (Kier).
Jaeckin works the material through to its open-ended climax with surprising subtlety, presenting O as a willing cipher and not, as feminist rhetoric once fumed, a typically weak and brutalised woman. He succeeds by presenting the sex games in appealing, lavish photography and the effect is unfashionably sensual: more suggestion, less gynaecology.
If S&M really does mean more to you than the standard seedy caricature, you can enjoy it with both hands free.
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
Five years after it was announced, Marvel is finally releasing its Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker comic adaptation, complete with extra scenes not in the film
Kingdom Hearts 2 streamer spends 2 hours grinding a 9999-hit combo, gets enough cash for 1.2 healing potions: "This is possibly the most stressful thing I've ever done"
Who is the Question? Explaining DC's masked crimefighter and her ties to the Justice League and Blue Beetle