My Mistress

Sixteen-year-old Charlie (Harrison Gilbertson) is having a bad summer. He's just discovered that his mother is engaged in an affair with his father's best friend, and poor dad is reacting badly. But there is one saving distraction from Charlie's domestic turmoil: a mysterious woman named Maggie (Emmanuelle Beart) has just moved in down the street and she appears to have a wide social circle, since different men pop by at all hours to visit. Maggie happens to be a dominatrix who is more than happy to introduce young Charlie to the pleasures of naughty pain. But why is Maggie so interested in seducing Charlie? Australian filmmaker Stephen Lance's debut features abundant clichés (of course, Maggie is French—and isn't every French woman consumed with percolating passion?), connect-the-dots storytelling, overheated posturing masquerading as erotica, and too-broad performances. And there's the “ick” factor in having an adult woman seduce a minor and subject him to a cockeyed Fifty Shades of Grey rip-off scenario. Whether viewed as camp or simply an example of bad taste, My Mistress is best avoided. Not a necessary purchase. (P. Hall)