In her first mainstream picture, adult film star Sasha Grey is appropriately enigmatic and alluring, if not a little stiff.

| Dec 8, 2021

Bringing bits and pieces of this unpleasant, narcissistic universe to life in The Girlfriend Experience, for example, is not a satisfying substitute for explaining why such a social existence came into being and why it fell apart.

| Feb 13, 2021

An intriguing if strangely empty glimpse inside a seemingly glamorous world,

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 5, 2019

This film and Grey's performance, which is unrefined but totally captivating, make almost every other easy label for a woman seem boring and inadequate. Through Grey, Soderbergh makes prettiness devastating.

| Oct 18, 2018

Documenting the way we speak now, however, doesn't compensate for the film's own hollow rhetoric; TGE's tricked-out, fractured narrative merely distracts from its dead-end cynicism.

| Mar 28, 2018

In some ways, the movie seems pornographic, and it's because in its progression it captures, as though by accident, a certain innocence--that sort of innocence that ends up incriminating the audience.

| Dec 13, 2017

Despite the rampant symbolism that Soderbergh conjures and indulges, The Girlfriend Experience is not a cold or clinical film at all.

| Apr 8, 2016

We also find ourselves wondering about the real Chelsea, but Grey plays her as such a chic, chameleonlike enigma, she remains beyond our grasp. It's all part of the game: enticing but frustrating, the ultimate tease.

| Oct 1, 2014

The woman is a total void. She can barely string more than five words together in a single sentence before lowering her eyelids to a suggestive half-mast.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 1, 2014

Given the film's timestamp and the illusory nature of Chelsea's transacted affections, she may be the Aughties bubble economy incarnate.

| Oct 1, 2014

Grey's face is mostly inexpressive, a dutiful mirror that soothes and deflects the egos she's paid to cultivate, while hiding deeper secrets. And in the mask of those impassive features, Soderbergh finds a sad world of unwitting nuance.

| Oct 1, 2014

Her beauty, independence, and stock portfolio notwithstanding, Chelsea's tale is a timely, tragic one told with typical Soderbergh finesse, a sly, sleek merger of sex, lies and hi def video.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 1, 2014

The Girlfriend Experience proves that a visually striking film can be made on the fly. But grab-and-run is a more fruitful strategy for images than scripts.

| Oct 1, 2014

For those inclined to follow [Soderbergh] down every nook and cranny of his career, it will be a welcome reminder of how restlessly probing he can be about matters of the heart.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 1, 2014

Not that The GirlfriendExperience rises to the level of Godard's Vivre sa vie, but it does provoke a host of issues that, wisely, it makes no attempt to resolve.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 1, 2014

The Girlfriend Experience stands out as one of my favourite films this year and one I unreservedly recommend.

| Oct 1, 2014

This brisk study of commercial culture is nonetheless intriguing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 1, 2014

To be honest, Sasha Grey is a face in search of an expression and the whole movie depends on her performance.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 1, 2014

The Girlfriend Experienceis a damning portrait of overindulgence, but it also manages to inspire sympathy for Sasha Grey: not by punishing her, but by gently, persistently reminding her that she became a commodity to achieve a lifestyle.

| Oct 1, 2014

Grey is no grand thespian, but she's an incredible presence: Her face projects an inner confidence while also radiating a subtle but unmistakable fragility.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Oct 1, 2014