Opening Day: 11 May 2006


Synopsis :

Based on the novel LIE WITH ME by Tamara Faith Berger.

Leila (Lauren Lee Smith) is a sexually voracious young woman who connects with men through brief physical encounters. One night at a crowded house party, Leila meets David (Eric Balfour) and its lust at first sight. Later, as she has casual sex with a stranger just behind the house, David and his girlfriend mirror her actions in their car. Leila and David’s eyes lock as they watch each other having sex with others, a courtship ritual that initiates their own sexual affair.

Seduction is easy and very satisfying. Leila and David get to know each other -- which means being intimate -- in bed, at the park, on the roof, everywhere. For them, and for other members of their generation, sex is a form of communication. But Leila starts to realize that her attachment to David is different from anything she’s experienced before, and David is just as serious about her. For the first time, they experience needs and desires that go beyond the physical. It is an emotional connection they crave.

Afraid of the feelings they have unleashed in each other, they retreat to the safety of their former lives. Real life, and the messiness of emotional attachments, have punctured their sexual and romantic bubble and threaten to keep the lovers apart. David’s father dies after a long illness and he turns to his ex-girlfriend for support. Leila, meanwhile, is distracted by her parents’ looming divorce.

Leila and David are trapped between two worlds. Anonymous sex, or sex without context, is losing its appeal. But a conventional approach to commitment – marriage and the seemingly inevitable divorce that follows, as evidenced by Leila’s parents -- is not the answer. They set out to find a way to build lust and love, spontaneity and substance, into a new life together.

Movie Review:

Truth be told, once in a while you have movies like Intimacy (2001), Swimming Pool (2003) and The Dreamers (2003), which manage to make their way to the local screens by being touted as artistic films. Lie With Me belongs to this genre of art house soft-porn. There're plenty of gratuitous nudity and sex scenes wrapped around a flimsy plot.

Based on a novel by Tamara Berger, the title "Lie With Me" echoes the horny, promiscuous protagonist's insatiable appetite for being laid. We see Leila (Lauren Lee Smith) for the very first time, pleasuring herself while engaging in one of her favourite pastimes - watching pornographic videos in the comfort of her sofa. She has another pastime, and that is being the wild party girl hitting out at men in clubs, looking for her next prey. Her aim in life? Looking for that ultimate lay. Don't laugh. It's true.

She chances upon David (Eric Balfour) in a nightclub and it's lust at first sight. They watch each other make out with their respective partners (she with a nerdy pick up, and him with his girlfriend), in an extremely voyeuristic fashion, and develop this mutual primal attraction for each other.

The rest of the plot, if you really try and squeeze it out of this film, revolves around the effort it takes to love somebody. Contrasting commitment and sacrifice with one night stands and flings, what exactly does it take to love someone? Do you have it in you to give up and change the negatives inside yourself, to be that better someone for your partner? It never is easy, given that Leila enjoys the physical attention men give her, while David is that hunk with an emotional
commitment issue. And it certainly doesn't help with their reversal of the dating rituals, trying to create something out of an empty lustful first fling - you see, they just did it, no questions asked, no words exchanged, just physical actions in their expression of love.

Trying to add to the background of the leads, we see Leila struggling with the impending breakup of her parents, so perhaps she does what she does as a form of escapism, resulting from the lost bonding with her folks, and engages in some form of sexual power play on guys. On the other hand, we see two sides of David, one the filial son, and the other, the wishy-washy boyfriend, and it is the former role that will generally appeal.

The artistically shot (i.e. you don't see much, and it all happens quick enough) sex scenes and nudity in the movie will probably attract the Yangtze crowd (almost every character has a go at being naked, so I have a feeling this might do well if screened there). Most of the flesh and skin shown, male and female full frontal, isn't really necessary to further or add depth to the plot, and for a movie like this, to have it censored despite its R21 rating, might seem a shame, given the range of sexual methods rolled out on screen.

But if you're in for some 90 minutes of pure carnal pleasure, coupled with Leila's narration throughout the movie sounding like dirty pillow talk amidst faux pas philosophy on love, live and lust, then shed your inhibitions, and indulge.

Movie Rating:

(An erotic drama with plenty of skin, but little else)

Review by Stefan Shih