Sinema 21 [NFK]: [Doc] Sex with Strangers

This film is a groundbreaking study of a hugely popular, underground sub-culture: swinging. The filmmakers spent a year with three sets of swingers. Their subjects define themselves not through jobs or politics, but through their sexuality. James and Theresa are classic swingers who aggressively seduce couples wherever they go. Their protégé Calvin attempts to share his sexual freedom with two jealous lovers, Sara and Julie. Psychodrama almost displaces sex for Shannon and Gerard, who aren’t sure whether swinging is the way to go to preserve their marriage. By embracing a free sexual lifestyle, all of these swingers have to constantly deal with issues of trust, power, intimacy, and love.

For some married couples, sex is an obsession that overwhelms their belief in strict monogamy. The ability to act out their sexual fantasies is more important than upholding any convention of love or marriage. Sex with Strangers paints an authentically intimate portrait of three such couples, from the euphoria of fantasies fulfilled to the desperation of splintering relationships, showing how their lives are profoundly affected by the lifestyle they lead. James and Theresa, a couple in their thirties, use their motor home as a pleasure palace travelling from club to club seducing couples wherever they go.
Calvin and Sarah are thinking about getting married when they meet Julie, who doesn’t swing, and isn’t bisexual – until she falls for Calvin. Psychodrama almost displaces sex for Shannon and Gerard, who are passionate about swinging, even as they question whether the lifestyle is really for them. With unprecedented access to their lives, Sex with Strangers explores the reality of living out one’s fantasies and offers an insightful story of open sexuality, communication, joy, jealousy and sometimes disappointment.