The Principles of Lust

Billed as a Brit Fight Club, this first feature from acclaimed TV director Woolcock may not entirely come off, but at least it's not playing safe. Paul (Newman) is an unemployed writer who falls in love with two people at once. Billy (Warren) is a Bataille-quoting 'live on the edge' type who introduces Paul to the delights of underage bare-knuckle boxing (it's grim up North) and tries to get him to fuck his stripper girlfriend; Juliette (Guillory) is a beautiful community worker and single mum who soon installs Paul as house husband. Explicit, provocative and fearlessly performed, it should be gripping viewing, but somehow isn't. The story loses its tension just when it should be tightening up, and despite Newman's best efforts, Paul is a maddeningly passive protagonist, never his own man - though doubtless that's the point.