The session with the client narrating an imagined rape was perhaps the most powerful and erotic in the movie. Dealing with anything related to rape play often causes controversy, even within the SM scene, so I was surprised to see it shown in such a positive light. Did you choose to include a scene depicting an often maligned kink to challenge unfortunately popular notions of how SM play *should* be, or did you experience it first hand?

This question is excerpted from an email I received from a festival audience member. The scene being discussed is a session where the dominant client describes, only with words and non-erotic movement, an imaginary, choreographed gang rape. No actual physical or emotional violence takes place.

The session scenes are all based on first hand experience, and I can only think of one detail which I completely fabricated for the sake of the narrative, and it wasn’t in this scene. (This will be addressed in a different question soon enough, as I’m often asked which elements of the film were true and which were fictional.) The session on which this episode — casually referred to, for better or worse, as “The Gang Rape Scene” — is based unfolded pretty much as depicted in the film. The client was extremely well spoken, far more attractive than the average customer, young, and commanding. There was no embarrassment or malice on his part. He had a job to do, and an hour in which to take me on the psychological ride of a lifetime. His kink was watching his sub mentally surrender to the fantasy while remaining physically safe. And it was my first experience, personally or professionally, with someone dominating me exclusively with a monologue and some intentionally non-erotic choreography. Honestly, it didn’t matter what the narrative he told was; I was completely immersed in the world he created. He really impressed me.

Now, when I put this in the film, I had an notion that it would be controversial. Certainly out of context it probably sounds horrifying. But I also know that peoples’ private fantasies are often taboo, things they would never want played out in real life. But aware that a session alluding to rape could be triggering, I did what I could to invite audiences into Remedy’s perspective so, hopefully, it wouldn’t matter if the viewer thought it was sexy. Meaning, they wouldn’t leave the theater wondering, “What does it say about me that I’m turned on by this?” Remedy thought it was sexy, and that’s what matters here. So I include pulsing, repetitive musical motifs and use a split screen. The intention was to allow the viewer access to Remedy’s subjectivity while ever-so-slightly distancing them from the harshness of the text. In other scenes they would not be so protected.

I also was very interested in depicting a positive session born of a violent fantasy and juxtaposing that with a session that seems safe but very much isn’t. REMEDY shows scenes unfamiliar to people who don’t work or play in the industry, subverting assumptions wherever possible.