Shortbus

Following Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the movie adaptation of his own stage musical about a rock star with a botched sex-change, New York-based director John Cameron Mitchell serves up a similarly perverse slice of life on the wild side in Shortbus. Linking multiple storylines, the film begins with a gay couple seeking relationship guidance from sex therapist Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee). In the course of the session, Sofia realises some tough truths about herself, principally that she has never had an orgasm. She then journeys deep into the city's hedonistic nightlife to find herself, discovering acceptance at a sex club called Shortbus. Though XXX-rated in principle - the hardcore sex is not simulated - this poignant film is less about the flesh than the mind. Mitchell succeeds in drawing hugely sympathetic portraits of the people Sofia meets; misfits and loners who long to feel as well as touch.