281. The Receptionist; movie review

THE RECEPTIONIST
Cert 18
102 mins
BBFC advice: Contains sexual violence, strong sex references

Almost every time Mrs W and I visit London we ask each other how the lowly paid can afford to live there.
It beats us why so many flock to our capital only to live on the breadline and be forced into crummy accommodation and a day-to-day existence.
Jenny Lu's The Receptionist is based on the true story of immigrants from the Far East who find themselves working in a brothel.
Yes, somehow the dream of a brilliant new life has been turned into the nightmare of selling their bodies to the perverted and the dangerous.
Teresa Daley plays Tina, a recent graduate who is finding it impossible to get a job to match her qualifications.
Her plight is more acute when her boyfriend (Josh Whitehouse) becomes unemployed so she, reluctantly, she agrees to become a receptionist for sex workers at suburban house.
Sophie Gopsill plays Lily, the brothel's rarely smiling madame who knows the working girls are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Meanwhile, Shiang-chyi Chen, Amanda Fan and Shuang Teng play the women who fulfil their clients sexual whims.
The Receptionist's conclusions are sad on several levels.
The loveless clients are to be pitied because they are not able to fulfil their desires outside of paying to do so.
The girls are tragic because they cannot break out of the cycle of poverty.
And the madame's personal dreams have long since been extinguished.
Unfortunately, it is a story of our time - of the people who are lost to society and cannot find their way back.
Some might say it was ever thus and that prostitution has been with us since the beginning of time.
If that is true, it might be about time we found a better way.
The Receptionist would endorse that view.
It is a well thought-out, if sometimes obviously low-budget, movie which offers a take on British life which is rarely explored.


Reasons to watch: A sad true story
Reasons to avoid: Its low budget means it is sporadically clunky

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Jenny Lu: "In the capital there are so many international people gathering and we all same a similar experience because we are foreign and we don't really feel at home."

The big question - Should there be a legalised brothel system?

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