SYNOPSIS:

A ‘noir’ erotic thriller exploring how fear, obsession and exploitation go hand-in-hand, not only in the porn industry but, more dangerously, in the world of real life. Dean is in his 40’s, living in a lonely niche of his own making, nursing the wounds from a broken marriage that cost him custody of his son. By day, he operates a low-rent T-shirt print shop; by night, he attempts to be a writer, contemplating the interplay of male and female with deep distrust. When his prosperous accountant friend lets him take the BMW for a spin, he breaks out of his cocoon by picking up a female hitchhiker, Joni. The ride turns into an anonymous sexual encounter and off they go again into their separate lives. Joni, by contrast, is in her late 20’s, drop-dead sexy and beautiful, an aspiring actress who is paying her dues as a porn star – everything that Dean fears the most. She needs advancement in a business ruled by men. She’s gifted and intelligent and willing to ignore both in order to get ahead. Behind this tough-as-nails exterior, however, is a red-hot fear of abandonment. The story follows Joni to the lurid porn studio, intercut with Dean’s solitary vigil at the computer and his wary debut at a self-esteem group for men. On one of his T-shirt deliveries, Dean bumps into Joni at the porn studio. Inadvertently, they now have each other’s number. Their two lives keep looping back into each other, exposing his distrust of intimacy and her twisted marriage to Marty, a soft-core producer/director. Dean decides to confront the slick menace of Marty. His friend with the BMW succumbs to sexual angst and commits suicide. The plot thickens as Joni and Dean blast the lid off each other’s secrets. When Dean crosses the line of no return, he finds himself trapped in the idiom of a B-movie, culminating in a bizarre home video shoot with a cruel twist.