{"id":1781,"date":"2026-05-18T08:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/?p=1781"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:58:18","slug":"the-duke-of-burgundy-thursday-may-21st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/18\/the-duke-of-burgundy-thursday-may-21st\/","title":{"rendered":"The Duke of Burgundy. Thursday, May 21st"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1192735824?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"Small Things Like These (2024) trailer\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Director: Peter Strickland \/ Year: 2014 \/ Color \/ English language \/ MPA rating: Not rated \/ Runtime: 104 min<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>British director Peter Strickland is an expert at toying with expectations. In \u201cBerberian Sound Studio,\u201d he followed the eerie plight of a sound mixer on an Italian giallo film with a disoriented style that made it unclear whether anything we saw took place outside of the disturbed man\u2019s brain. \u201cThe Duke of Burgundy\u201d offers a far more ambitious gamble: It explores a sadomasichistic romance between two women \u2014 under the guise of European sexploitation films from decades earlier \u2014 by exploring the peculiar nature of their attraction without turning it into a punchline. By the movie\u2019s end, the kinky antics are oddly heartwarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an amusing feat of counterprogramming by \u201cDuke\u201d U.S. distributor IFC Films, the movie comes out in limited release the same weekend that \u201cFifty Shades of Grey\u201d commands far greater attention on the world stage. But while that movie\u2019s salacious content explores sexuality with a blunt stick, \u201cDuke\u201d takes a subtle, haunting approach. With no male characters in sight, it focuses on Cynthia (Sidse Babbet Knudsen), a moth researcher, and her partner Evelyn (Chiara D\u2019Anna). The pair engage in their fantasies by following a scripted routine that finds Evelyn playing the role of shy maid to Cynthia\u2019s stern master. Time and again, they go through the motions: Evelyn shows up, Cynthia berates and demoralizes her; eventually, the couple hits the sack. Strickland doesn\u2019t show the origins of this romance or the process by which the fantasy took shape. Instead, he drops us into the thick of it to sort through signposts that include an eerie tone, nuanced facial expressions and outlandish behavior until it takes on an internal logic on par with its participants\u2019 relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a distinct naughtiness to Strickland\u2019s use of melodramatic tropes in service of such an bizarre premise, but the women gradually develop a wholly believable chemistry. The disturbing nature of their romance unfolds mainly through the characters\u2019 subjective interpretations of their relationship, which grows troubled by the prospects of infidelity and the intermingling of role playing and genuine motives. At what point does the fetish of punishment go too far? When is a safe word really a safe word? And when Cynthia locks Evelyn in a box after hours, at what point does it stop servicing their desire and instead unlock darker motives? These questions drift through each scene like the moths dotting the walls of the couple\u2019s shadowy home. Through jittery editing techniques and a haunting atmosphere that might not feel out of place in Tim Burton\u2019s oeuvre, Strickland delivers one of the most original romances in recent memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[The Duke Of Burgundy] Strickland litters his narrative with cryptic elements that deepen the weird vibes. The moth obsession at one point takes over the entire movie, with beating wings filling every inch of the frame, in a direct reference to Stan Brakhage\u2019s \u201cMothlight.\u201d Strickland generates a discomfiting quality that keeps the mystery of his world in play. Above all else, he taps into the intangible elements of sexual attraction by bathing them in ambiguities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not since \u201cSecretary\u201d have the prospects of S&amp;M behavior been given such a sympathetic treatment. Even movies designed to celebrate sexual freedoms often wind up transforming them into titilating spectacles. Strickland avoids any kind of simplistic outcome. His elegant craftsmanship, aided by a pair of confident lead performances, operates on a level of sheer ingenuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devoid of men and dominated by elusive urges, \u201cThe Duke of Burgundy\u201d offers a liberating challenge to conventional depictions of erotic behavior. Perhaps it\u2019s unfair to hold \u201cFifty Shades of Grey\u201d to the same standards, but the absence of such sensationalism in Strickland\u2019s vision contain a unique charm that no bigger movie would dare confront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Review by Eric Kohn for IndieWire<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt2570858\/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"44\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/imdb.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Director: Peter Strickland \/ Year: 2014 \/ Color \/ English language \/ MPA rating: Not rated \/ Runtime: 104 min British director Peter Strickland is an expert at toying with expectations. In \u201cBerberian Sound Studio,\u201d he followed the eerie plight of a sound mixer on an Italian giallo film with a disoriented style that made &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/18\/the-duke-of-burgundy-thursday-may-21st\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Duke of Burgundy. Thursday, May 21st<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-trailers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1784,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions\/1784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscreen.richardlohr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}