Sanctuary (2023)

March 2, 2023 (FR) • Drama, Thriller • 96m

Overview

Confined to a claustrophobic hotel room, the heir to a hotel empire and the dominatrix who has primed him for success become locked in a battle of wits and wills as he tries to end his relationship with her.

Director

Zachary Wigon

Writer

Micah Bloomberg

Top Billed

Margaret Qualley

Keywords

hotel eroticism denver, colorado dark comedy dominatrix dominance job promotion power dynamics

Where to watch

Free / Included

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Margaret Qualley

Rebecca Marin

Christopher Abbott

Hal Porterfield

Danita Battle

Hal's Mother

Rene Calvo

Younger Phil Porterfield

Christian Casatelli

Young Hal

Dominick Defilips

Older Phil Porterfield

Crew

Lisa Kjerulff

Line Producer

Margaret Qualley

Executive Producer

Ilya Stewart

Producer

Ali Jazayeri

Executive Producer

Nick Shumaker

Executive Producer

Micah Bloomberg

Executive Producer

David Gendron

Executive Producer

Mirren Gordon-Crozier

Costume Design

Amber Thrane

Set Decoration

Ariel Marx

Original Music Composer

Jason Singleton

Production Design

David Lancaster

Producer

Micah Bloomberg

Screenplay

Zachary Wigon

Director

Elizaveta Chalenko

Executive Producer

Maxim Dashkin

Executive Producer

Pierre Mazars

Executive Producer

Carole Baraton

Executive Producer

Yohann Comte

Executive Producer

Ilya Stewart

Co-Producer

Pavel Burian

Co-Producer

Stephanie Wilcox

Producer

Kate Brokaw

Editor

Lance Edmands

Editor

Caspar Newbolt

Title Designer

Sedrina Bloome

Costume Supervisor

Mary Chipman

Makeup Department Head

Ludovica Isidori

Director of Photography

Craig Mann

Supervising Sound Editor

Maxwell Nalevansky

Set Dresser

Craig Mann

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Juan Carlos Rodríguez

Sound Mixer

Jennie Shea

ADR Recordist

Mark DeSimone

ADR Mixer

Alex Burstein

First Assistant Director

Nicholas Timmons

Steadicam Operator

Declan Mulvey

Stunt Coordinator

Nitasha Bhambree

Stunt Coordinator

Vadim Aynbinder

Additional Photography

Christopher Dagostino

Second Assistant Director

David Grantham

Second Assistant Camera

Vadim Aynbinder

"A" Camera Operator

Albi Sala

Gaffer

Esha Kallianpur

Script Supervisor

Lauren Citera

Hair Department Head

Johnathan Dorfman

Visual Effects Supervisor

Szymon Weglarski

Visual Effects Supervisor

Reviews

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

⭐ 4/10

August 4, 2023

A dominatrix and her wealthy client engage in the most elaborate power struggle during one night in a luxury hotel suite in “Sanctuary,” director Zachary Wigon’s twisted psychological love story / thriller. The film’s tone is uneven and inconsistent and the direction is lacking, but the two lead performances are terrific.

Hal (Christopher Abbott) is the heir to a major company and will soon be taking over as CEO, which means it’s time to cut ties with the longstanding professional relationship he’s had with a dominatrix, Rebecca (Margaret Qualley). When he tries to break it off with an expensive goodbye gift, she’s not having any of it. This leads to a wild night of sexual game playing and psychological torture, as the power shifts and sexual dynamics converge in a tornado of chaos.

As a viewer, this constant back and forth makes the film extremely frustrating. By the very definition of her profession, Rebecca is a person who holds and exerts all the power over her client. The twist here is that Hal also has a significant amount of power. They both are master manipulators and can control each other on a whim. This aspect of the film becomes more irritating than compelling, especially when it’s impossible to tell who’s telling the truth at any given time.

It’s one big charade. Hal doesn’t think much of himself, as it is made evident in the elaborate, belittling scripts he writes for Rebecca to recite, word for word. She knows he has daddy issues and plays to his weaknesses. His power over her is all about the money. The story loses its edge when Rebecca engages in a bit of blackmail, exposing an unfortunate pettiness from which her character never recovers.

There are some sophisticated ideas about gender and capitalism at play, but they’re drowned out by situations that feel like they were solely added to the screenplay to push buttons or at least garner some uncomfortable, cringey laughter. What begins as a feminist-leaning story transforms into one that’s more off-putting and problematic.

When a film has a cast of just two actors, they better be strong enough to support the material. Thankfully, that’s not a problem here. These are two complex characters, and Qualley and Abbott skillfully embody them. She plays Rebecca as an unconventional therapist of sorts, and he is believable as a broken man with a poor self image.

The dominatrix thriller genre isn’t huge, and “Sanctuary” is well acted and provocative. I found the filmmaking to be amateurish and disappointing however, and this project is unlikely to find a large audience. It’s a festival film and nothing more.

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

—

Revenue

$581,423

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Sanctuary (2023)

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

Recommended Movies

Crocodile Dundee

The Shining

Room in Rome

Psycho

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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