From the opening minutes of She’s Lost Control, it’s clear that Anja Marquardt’s portrait of a sex surrogate in New York City will take its subject seriously. With Brooke Bloom’s performance giving the movie its dramatic anchor, She’s Lost Control strikes a fascinating mood between slow-building angst and cold remove.
As single Manhattanite Ronah, Bloom initially projects an unsettling degree of confidence about her profession, going through the motions with various clients. However, bit by bit the problems add up: glimmers of family issues in upstate New York, concerns about her future, and a client (Marc Menchaca) for whom she might be developing feelings all bear down on her, setting the stage for an alarming climax.
She’s Lost Control shrewdly avoids judgement of its character except to insinuate that she hasn’t fully considered the ramifications of her actions until it’s too late. Having established that her version of sex therapy exists in “a safe place” early on, She’s Lost Control ends with the haunting suggestion that such a sanctuary doesn’t exist.
Eric Kohn
IndieWire
Please note that the festival is over 18s only
