Let’s talk about sex

By Nicholas Barber

Whenever the topic of film censorship comes up, sex and violence are lumped together, as if you can’t have one without the other. But while violence is right at the heart of mainstream cinema, sex is usually relegated to a quick leering shot of Megan Fox in her underwear. A film that’s actually about sex—how it feels, why it matters—is rare indeed, and that’s just one reason why "The Sessions" is so remarkable. John Hawkes (exceptional in "Winter’s Bone" and "Martha Marcy May Marlene") stars as Mark O’Brien, a poet and journalist who was left immobile by childhood polio. At the age of 38, he decides that it’s high time he lost his virginity, and so, with the approval of his hippie Catholic priest (William H. Macy), he hires a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) who’s also a happily married mother. It would have been easy for "The Sessions" to become mawkish and solemn—"The King’s Speech" with more chat about orgasms. But its writer-director, Ben Lewin, keeps things miraculously modest and matter-of-fact. He has made a wry, intimate comedy drama, with unshowy performances from actors who just happen to spend much of their screen time naked. "The Sessions" is a film about sex aimed at people old enough to have it. Naturally, the American poster doesn’t even hint at the subject matter. ~ Nicholas Barber

The Sessions British release Jan 18th, out now in America