Synopsis: Leila (Lauren Lee Smith is a sexually voracious young woman who connects with men through sex. One night at a party, she meets David (Eric Balfour). Later, as she has casual sex with a stranger outside, David and his girlfriend mirror her action in their car. Their eyes lock, beginning a courtship ritual that initiates their own sexual affair. Leila and David get to know each other – which means being intimate – in bed, on the roof, in the park, everywhere. For them and other members of their generation, sex is communication. Just as Leila realizes her attraction to David is different than anything she has ever known, he retreats. Her explosive reaction knows no bounds. Now they must conquer their demons in order to move beyond the purely physical…and satisfy the emotional connection the unknowingly crave.

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Lie With Me 7.5

eyelights: its unjudgemental look at female sexuality. the masturbation sequences.
eyesores: the slowness of the piece.

“You have to wait… until you’re uncovered. You have to wait with someone naked. And then you have to wait some more.”

‘Lie With Me’ is a film that I picked up sight-unseen at the library, no doubt during that time when I was a heavy user, requesting almost every new title that came through. I knew nothing about it, but its sexy cover art appealed to me; the girl was cute, and both sides of the DVD promised a fair bit of yumminess. However, I knew from experience that movies will often give the allure of sex to reel in an audience, but often have something else in mind.

Not so with ‘Lie With me’. In fact, I was astonished by how bold it was.

The core of ‘Lie With Me’ is the emotional journey that our protagonist, Leila, makes from being a sexually aggressive woman to someone more emotionally available. This means that there is a lot of sexual content in the film, including some fairly explicit stuff between the actors – but not so explicit that this could be considered pornography.  And, although it was certainly meant to titillate, it was also integral to the story; it’s not at all gratuitous.

Because, if anything, sexuality is a central element of Leila’s existence. She is the female equivalent of a lot of males, in that she is very much aware of her desires and needs, and is unafraid to act on them. Right from the beginning, we are introduced to her via a scene of her watching porn on her television and masturbating to it. Single, she decides that she’s had enough of watching and wants to get down to doing, setting off to a bar to pick up a random stranger.

Frankly, this opening sequence alone was enough to captivate me: I love seeing a woman owning her sexuality – which might explain why I love the sight of a woman who masturbates. That was already especially appealing, but I also liked the way that director Clément Virgo shot it: he started with an extreme close-up of Laureen Lee Smith’s face and slowly pulled away, revealing her and her current motivation. It was a perfect introduction to the character.

Virgo has stated that he wanted to portray a woman who is not having sex because she is emotionally damaged or has been abused, as films often tend to do. He also wanted to avoid the cliché of the woman being punished in some fashion for being sexually active. I wholly support this approach because I think it’s unhealthy for women to accept that there should be shame or embarrassment surrounding their sexuality: sex is a basic part of being human; we are sexual beings.

In that sense, ‘Lie With Me’ is successful. It manages to show us a strong female character who is sexual, and without moral judgement. The film is, above all else, about her transition from a purely sexual young woman to one who balances sex and love, who is capable of bridging the emotional crevices in herself. This includes the blossoming romantic relationship with David, but also her feelings with respect her parents, now divorcing.

Until she deals with these elements within her, she is incapable of relating with others on a more intimate level: when she meets men, she can only connect with them on a superficial level; when she visits with her parents, there is a distance that seems insurmountable; when David suffers a personal tragedy, she is incapable of being there for him, instead pushing him away. These are experiences that she will handle differently as she opens up.

This is part of the reason why ‘Lie With Me’ is short on story: it is more focused on mood, sitting with the characters in silence; we are getting to know Leila, and in some ways are discovering her at the same time as she is. This requires time, and Virgo is happy spending time with her to better understand her, to explain her motives and behaviour. Similarly, much of the time between Leila and David is dialogue-less; they are breathing each other in.

One of the most arresting moments between them is the one when they cross paths on the street and she runs away from him. David follows, chasing her at a casual pace, knowing full well that she’s playing with him, naturally leading him to a playground, to a tunnel, where they watch each other. It’s such a primal moment, wordlessly saying everything to each other, with Leila expressing her desire in the most direct way she can – with a caress.

Lauren Lee Smith is quite excellent as Leila. I’ve seen her in other films, but they were only bit parts. It’s only in ‘Lie With Me’ that I’ve seen her showing off her acting skills. But I’d love to see more of her. Eric Balfour is also pretty good as David, even though he keeps a certain reserve that I find annoying – was it essential for the character or is it a limitation of Balfour’s? I wasn’t exactly fond of him in ‘Six Feet Under’, but he has his moments here.

‘Lie With Me’ has a slow pace and limited plot development, but it’s a genuine look at the blossoming of a new relationship – at least in some circles. The characters don’t exactly entice me or move me, but I love their representations nonetheless, if only because it feels realistic. Above all else, I love its portrayal of a sexually free woman, because it’s not something that we often see in Hollywood cinema without it being portrayed as morally questionable or played for comedy.

Between its unjudgemental approach and the eye-candy, ‘Lie With Me’ certainly is worth a look. Or two. Or three.

“I wish I could ride my bike forever. I wish the Sun would never go down. The summer will go on, and on, until every person is out on the streets, and feeling like me.”

Story: 7.5
Acting: 8.0
Production: 7.5

Sexiness: 7.0
Nudity: 7.0
Explicitness: 7.5

Date of viewing: July 9-22, 2013