She's Lost Control (2014) - Anja Marquardt

Ronah, an independent woman living in New York City, works as a sexual surrogate, helping her male clients get over their issues associated with intimacy, in an attempt to help them feel comfortable in their own skin.  When Ronah meets Johnny, a volatile new client, the world between her professional and personal life becomes increasingly blurred, as Ronah grows further detached from her own personal reality.  Ania Marquardt's She's Lost Control is an in-depth look at iintimacy and alienation, examining a character whose solitude slowly begins to take a toll on her emotional stability.  Aesthetically, the film is shot in a way that gives the film a very hazy, blurry quality, drifting along in this character's increasing alienation, using overexposure to visually express her emotional state.  This works to the film's advantage in creating a visually expressive film, but unfortunately the whole experience also feels too detached at times, making it hard for the viewer to be emotionally gripped by the plight of this character.  Ronah's financial issues and strained relationship with her family are just the catalysts in her deteriorating emotional state, with Johnny being the ultimate encounter that shatters Ronah's fragile balance between personal and professional intimacy.   The film captures the complexities of putting professional intimacy ahead of one's own personal relationships, doing so in a somewhat ambiguous way that never quite reveals the type of personal problems and flawed relationships Ronah has.  In the end, She's Lost Control is an intriguing first feature that has an impressive visual sense, being a film that provides a flawed but fascinating narrative about a woman losing control.

---