Preaching to the Perverted

Pity poor Peter (Anholt). A virginal computer boffin, he thinks he's bound for glory when Henry Harding MP (Bell) sends him undercover, on a mission from God to infiltrate the House of Thwax fetish club. The idea is to record evidence for a public prosecution, but for Peter this entails gross private humiliation at the hands of American dominatrix Tanya Cheex (Turner). She's only too happy to whip this puppy lover into shape, but when he comes clean, will she turn the other Cheex? Writer/director Urban is known for his BBC TV work, including the BAFTA-winning Falklands drama An Ungentlemanly Act, but his first feature is more in line with late-night satellite broadcasting at its starkest. The shock tactics, however, are nowhere near as offensive as the tissue-thin characterisation, stiff performances, anti-climactic script, and a half-cocked stylisation - play-school Almodóvar - which basically boils down to pink and purple production design. A movie for masochists.