“It is my immense pleasure to offer each and every one of you a very special evening full of passion, live music, dance, and erotic readings. Our poets will seduce and delight you with tales of intimate erotica, evocative imagery, and much more. In exchange for a symbolic token, they will undress their souls, and reveal their most provocative persona for your ears only. Tonight, they are all for sale.”

With these opening words we are immediately drawn into the mysterious and sensual world of Cabaret Desire, a Lust Films of Barcelona production written and produced by Erika Lust. If you were hoping to see mainstream porn, you better look elsewhere. You won’t find any spitting, fake squealing, facial money shots, or surgically enhanced bodies for that matter. What you will find is a film that cares as much about how it is filmed as what is filmed. Yes, there are sex scenes, four in fact. But this film offers so much more including interesting story lines, an entertaining soundtrack, and cinematography that elevates this film to the level of art. Call it sexy, call it artsy, just please don’t call it porn. I prefer to refer to it as cinematic erotica.

The film takes place in Cabaret Desire, a place where people come to immerse themselves in tales of sensuality, for a small price of course. The film features four short stories told for the entertainment of others:

The Two Alexes (Running Time: 17 minutes)
Cast: Sofia Prada, Saskia Condal, Toni Fontana
”I'm tired of having to define myself. Sweet or savory, black or white, friend or lover, man or woman, dominating or submissive, saint or whore...Fuck everything having to be labeled and classified.”

Sophia is tired of being labeled. Why does everything have to be in fucking neat little categories all time? Not Sophia. She is none of those things, and yet she is all of those things. Sophia meets both Alexes a few days apart at her bar. She’s immediately drawn to the fact that each represents the opposite sex: one male, one female. Why choose when you can have it all? The film juxtaposes Sophia’s relationship with one Alex against the other, each following similar yet divergent paths. She serenades each with the same song, under the same tree, in the same park. The film constantly switches between the two. Sophia is submissive with the male Alex, yet dominating with the female Alex. We see the male Alex on top in Missionary contrasted to Sophia with a strap-on harness riding the female Alex. The scene is very sensual and erotic, with wonderful chemistry between the actors. The Alexes discover one another and force Sophia to decide. So are you gay or straight? The problem is, Sophia doesn’t respond to threats. She’s out and you lose.

My Mother (Running Time: 15 minutes)
Cast: Mario Mentrup, Lady Diamond
”No one, man or woman, ever fucked with my mother. She was the most progressive, refined, libertine and sensual woman any one had ever seen… She was a real revolutionary, everything about her, from the way she dressed, to her paintings, and her decision to become a single mother went against the grain, and she knew it.”

My Mother delves into the themes of dominance and submission. Our protagonist is a beautiful, well-educated woman that also happens to be a master thief of art. The story tells of the one heist that she considers her masterpiece. Dressed in a one-piece catsuit, she enters the home of an author famous for his writings on sexuality, seduction, and the inequality of the sexes. While he is sleeping, she drugs him and binds him to a chaise. She uses a makeshift Wartenberg wheel on his chest before cutting off his underwear with scissors. She has a convenient zipper in the crotch and wears the suit the entire scene. The scene deals with the uncomfortable notion of forced sex, although the victim appears to eventually relent and enjoy himself. The mood is darker and may not appeal to everyone, but is still erotic and kinky.

In Wonderland (Running Time: 16 minutes)
Cast: Liandra Dahl, Matisse

”I always thought that when I turned 30, I'd be an adult, living the life I'd always fantasized about... the one we create when we're little girls. A beautiful home, two kids, a dog, a fulfilling career, a handsome and adoring husband...These thoughts couldn't be further from my life today.”

In Wonderland touches on the subject of fantasies realized. On her thirtieth birthday, a woman realizes that her life is not the one she imagined as a little girl. There is no beautiful home with a picket fence, no 2.5 children, and there is definitely no adoring husband in her life. It is with this backdrop that her friends set her up for a birthday surprise. She is chauffeured to a secret location while blindfolded. Inside an unknown warehouse, she has a meeting with a man she has been admiring from afar, all courtesy of her friends. Whereas My Mother is dark and intense, In Wonderland is joyful and the setting angelic. Shear, white fabric draped around the room billows in the gentle breeze as their bodies intertwine. You can sense her girlish giddiness as her fantasy turns to reality. There’s nothing unique or shocking, but the actors perform well together and the scene has a feeling of comfort, like cuddling with your favorite blanket.

Wet Sheets (Running Time: 14 minutes)
Cast: Samia Duarte, Didac Duran

”After 15 minutes of walking in high heels that were too high and too new, her feet were killing her. What we had was good, damn good, but it’s not going to go anywhere. It was just amazing sex for a few days over a year ago, and that’s it.”

How many times in our life do we get a second chance at love? In Wet Sheets, a couple reminisces about an amazing 4 days they spent together over a year ago while they prepare to meet again. We watch as each heads toward the rendezvous, their heads filled with self-doubt and excuses why this meeting will likely fail. Interspersed are memories from their original encounter displaying their intimacy and passion. When one is delayed, the emotions rise as they become angry and frustrated, while at the same time the memories become equally intense and passionate. The chemistry between the actors is wonderful as you can sense the love they share for each other in every touch and every look.

Ultimately, Cabaret Desire may not appeal to all viewers, especially those looking for a more traditional style of porn. But if you're interested in a film that's sexy, intelligent, and artistic, you can't go wrong with Cabaret Desire.

I still really like the short stories in this collection, particularly Wet Sheets. The short films are all well filmed and classy. Definitely not your typical porn offering and worth watching.