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In a photographer's studio, Sara (Pia Andersson), a talent agent past
her prime, picks up pretty and innocent looking Tulia (Vivian Neves) and
invites her to her country home, where she's pose for her photographer
nephew Theo (Karl Lanchbury) - and at first everything goes very fine, and
the three of them even party together in the evening quite nicely, a party
that involves alcohol, tinged cigarettes, and even a round of strip poker.
And eventually, Tulia and Theo become very friendly ... but when it comes
to sex, Theo just can't keep it up. The day after, Tulia becomes a little
more inquiring, wondering about the last model Sara and Theo had at their
place, Rhonda (Johanna Hegger), about whom they keep on talking without
ever explaining why she left all of a sudden. Tulia also meets Theo's
friend Tom (Andrew Grant), who almost rapes her in front of Theo's camera,
and she's told way too late that it was only for Theo's photos. Later Sara
tells her that his erectile disfunction has to do with his voyeuristic
urges. That night, after quite a few drinks and tinged cigarettes, Theo
photographs Tulia and Sara having lesbian sex, and the two women somehow
manage to seduce him, too. The next morning, Tulia finds the keys to
Theo's photo lab, the only room she isn't allowed into, and decides to
take a peek. She finds photos of Rhonda not meant for her eyes, and what
she sees isn't pretty. But doing so, she's caught by Theo - and he's quite
enraged, and armed ... Whirlpool might be one of the
lesser-known films by José Ramón Larraz, but it's well worth a look all
the same, as the film presents us with a slightly labyrinthean story
caught somewhere between psycho thriller and erotica, told in a very
sensual way - which goes not only for the sex scenes - with plenty of
nudity that never seems gratuitous but always grounded in the plot ... and
that's despite the fact that the plot only gradually unfolds and unveils
where it's headed - making this a very fascinating trip, and also an
awesome piece of nostalgia, because films like this aren't made anymore in
this day and age, which is why this one looks fresh to this day!
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