Story

Synopsis

Max is a high-strung twenty-something who has, up until this point, coped with a recent traumatic sexual experience with baking, positive affirmations, therapy— you name it. In a bid to finally process the event, she hires a sex worker, Lucy, to recreate the scene. Lucy, however, is unaware of this and enters the scene believing that they’re role playing a general consensual non consensual scene (CNC).

During role play, Max becomes obsessed with getting the scene “exactly right” and becomes increasingly upset at the details not being perfect. Max begins to panic and suddenly, while wielding a wine glass, bottle and a corkscrew that simply won’t work, begins to devolve.

Lucy realizes that this is not what she signed up for, at all, but when Max’s frantic unraveling culminates in a broken glass and a defeated Max sitting in a pool of wine, Lucy decides to try to help. Now witnessing true vulnerability from Max, Lucy asks her a simple question: “What do you actually want?” Max is stumped. She’s never even considered the question. Gradually, through Lucy’s patient and gentle guidance, Max allows herself to have an entirely different experience not at all orchestrated but entirely organic and fulfilling.

Simultaneously heart-wrenching and hilarious, the film showcases the transcendence of female pleasure.

“A woman's situation, i.e those meanings derived from the total context in which she comes to maturity, disposes her to apprehend her body not as instrument of her transcendence, but "an object destined for another.”

-Simone de Beauvoir

Themes + Genre

  • Often when we see depictions of trauma in media, the focus is on seeing the incident unfold in real time or the immediate effects the experience had on the victim. Rarely do we see the reality many victims of sexual assault face. We don’t see years after the trauma has happened. We don’t see the daily struggle of living with a new body that has been forever changed by being violated. We don’t see the desperation to finally heal after years of therapy and journaling and talking. Much like grief, society places an expectation on victims: take time to heal, but not too much time. Give it to Me is about the after. And the after, after that. The after when people stop checking in. The after of feeling ashamed and guilty for not being able to “let go” even after “enough” time has passed. Give it to Me shows the reality of trauma and the lengths we will go to finally feel peace in a body that doesn’t quite feel like ours anymore.

  • Kink is often a topic shrouded by taboo and shame. Rarely do we see representations of kink as a way to connect to the body and move through trauma in a controlled and safe environment. Give it to Me shows the benefits of utilizing kink as a means of therapy and comments on the importance of consent when engaging in role play.

  • Give it to Me strips away the male gaze from the occupation of sex work and instead presents sex work as a way to heal at the hands of a professional. Lucy, the sex worker in our film, is empathetic, kind and sets appropriate boundaries when it comes to her line of work. Give it to Me throws away the oversexualized image of the sex worker and shows its audience an alternative depiction of sex work.