High-class escort Holly Viva Bianca is retiring, kissing her callgirl life goodbye. She just has to get through her last night on the job. Meanwhile, teenage runaway Shay Hanna Mangan Lawrence arrives in the city broke and alone, doing whatever it takes to get through her first night on the streets. Thrown together on a job that goes horribly wrong, Holly and Shay find themselves on an out-of-control rollercoaster ride through the seedy clubs, strip joints and back alleys of the red light district.
If they can get through the night, they might just have a chance at a fresh start. X is not a film that wants to explore the deeper societal issues that fuel the flesh factories. Instead, it finds its strongest pulse when leering over the naked, sculptured bodies of high-class prostitutes taking showers or indulging in dirty talk while hand-jobbing old men in city traffic.
Note to Screen Australia: They may sell to European distributors, but they are doing our industry and your reputation no favours at all. Holly Viva Bianca is an experienced elite-service callgirl about to leave the life behind and fly to Paris; Shay Hanna Mangan Lawrence is on the streets for the first time, having fallen into street-walking after fleeing an unhappy family life. Instead of jumping a train to the furthest station from the Cross, the girls meander about Sin City, meeting junkies, pimps, fellow sex workers and, most oddly, a romantic cab driver studying to be a magician a breath-of-fresh-air performance by Eamon Farren.
The inevitable confrontation plays out loudly and violently, with no surprises at all; a seaside coda, involving Shay, a rabbit and an 11th hour grab for emotional relevance by Hewitt, falls flat. Both actresses bravely indulge in graphic sex scenes but are left stranded by risible dialogue; Bianca is wooden but Lawrence is a sweet, sympathetic presence in a film that falls well below her potential.
Signout Sign in Create an account. Previous Next Show Grid. Previous Next Hide Grid. A regrettable night in Sin City. Details 1 hour 25 min. Unseen footage, real voices: Recreating the moon mission with 'Apollo 11'. Your guide to the Sydney Film Festival. And I live in a nursing home.
