THE LITTLE DEATH

The Little Death is a truly original comedy about sex, love, relationships and taboo. In a multi story narrative, we peer behind the closed doors of a seemingly normal suburban street. A woman with a dangerous fantasy and her partners struggle to please her. A man who begins an affair with his own wife without her knowing anything about it. A couple struggling to keep things together after a sexual experiment spins out of control. A woman who can only find pleasure in her husband’s pain. A call centre operator caught in the middle of a dirty and chaotic phone call. And the distractingly charming new neighbour who connects them all. The little Death explores why do we want what we want? How far will we go to get it? What are the consequences of that fleeting moment of sexual ecstasy? — IMDB

Quite clever and original, The Little Death (a translation of the French phrase, le petit morte, a euphemism for orgasm)  doesn’t completely achieve what it sets out to do. Some of the stories are very funny, and others are overdone. The conclusion, which tries to tie everything together is not entirely satisfying. Manages to explore explicit subjects without being gratuitous and with minimal skin being shown. The concepts are very adult and occasionally very controversial, particularly one of the women’s fantasy of being raped. While the parts are greater than the sum of the whole, it’s worth a look by mature audiences when it arrives on DVD. 

***1/2