Featuring mostly real porn performers, Thyberg sought to detail the world in all its seedy glory, as it vacillates between the sexy and the grotesque.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 18, 2024

This is definitely not going to be a film for everyone, and it is hard to fully recommend it without knowing what boundaries people have. It is such a tough watch, but one that I feel is necessary for those who can make it through.

| Original Score: A- | Mar 1, 2024

Thyberg is a fearless director for not shying away from the story and her boldness to show the harrowing experience in the adult film industry.

| Sep 4, 2023

A warts and all look at an industry glorified by many.

| May 10, 2023

As you would expect, this film features a lot of nudity and depicts various sex acts. It is rated R, but if I was rating it, it would be NC-17, adults only. You would expect it to rise up at least a little bit over its subject matter, but it doesn't.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 29, 2023

Pleasure’s view of the porn industry is narrow and it can’t quite shake stigmatizing stereotypes. I think you could at least argue, though, that it’s trying.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jan 28, 2023

A film about the business of sex that is very explicit and yet determinedly non-erotic, identifying the spectrum of humanity and what it looks like when that’s lost.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 21, 2022

After a while the shock value wears off... The pall of nauseous discomfort that hovers over the whole enterprise, though, sticks.

| Original Score: B | Dec 2, 2022

"Thyberg — along with her star Sofia Kappel — creates a swirling tale of intoxication, agency and exploitation that focuses squarely on the desires of her protagonist."

| Nov 19, 2022

Pleasure is not an easy watch. It is meant to provoke you and at times makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing. However it is also a well made piece of filmmaking that signals the arrival of talented new voices in Thyberg and Koppel.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 12, 2022

It wouldn't exactly be accurate to state that Pleasure makes Boogie Nights look about as hardcore as FernGully: The Last Rainforest by comparison, but there's a reason this has been making the rounds either unrated or with an adults-only designation.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 27, 2022

Pleasure is a complex look, without taboo's or set morals, regarding the porn industry... enough to be an extraordinary film. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jul 18, 2022

Working with cinematographer Sophie Winqvist Loggins, writer-director Thyberg finds ingenious angles and original choreography to shoot pornographic shoots. For all the nudity and thrusting on screen no one could describe Pleasure as voyeuristic.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 16, 2022

Rather than attempting to shock, titillate, or shame, it instead tells a story about the dangers of rapid fame and the importance of knowing one's own worth. It's humane, enlightening, and entertaining.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 11, 2022

Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure will not be for everyone. An unflinching look at the porn industry and especially the women in it, Thyberg’s gaze never shies away from the ugliness of it all.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2022

An ode to displeasure... [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 27, 2022

It's finely acted and shot with a riveting point of view. But it never feels personal.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 22, 2022

What's the difference between Bella wanting to make it to the top and any other woman wanting to do the same in any other industry? None, Thyberg says and shows. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jun 22, 2022

A star is born and then some with newcomer Sofia Kappel. Thyberg is one to watch - she confidently showcases how a desire for stardom is faced with conflicting power dynamics within this or any business especially for women. That sadly hasn't changed.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 22, 2022

This is an immersive and unflinching narrative whirl through the LA porn industry, with no blushes spared.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 17, 2022