This is Soderbergh’s 20th feature, shot in 16 days for a budget of $1.15 million, and light years away from his Hollywood studio product such as Ocean’s Eleven.
A semi-improvised take on modern relationships conducted in New York, it in some ways harks back to the themes of Soderbergh’s breakthrough Sex, Lies and Videotape.
As the city tumbles into recession, some businesses prove impervious to financial disaster. One such is ‘The Girlfriend Experience’, wherein a high-class escort service offers its clientele the emotional intimacy of a girlfriend as well as sex.
Adult movie actress Sasha Grey stars as Christine, the escort at the centre of the story and the film follows her as she moves around the city, meeting clients while trying to maintain a relationship with her own boyfriend, personal trainer Chris.
As in Sex, Lies and Videotape, this is a film superficially about sex with no sexual content; at its heart, a thoughtful look at honesty and intimacy, trust and transactional human relationships.
