Upcoming erotic lesbian thriller Bandaged: Good art movie or bad smut?

Last week the indie lesbian thriller Bandaged had it’s world premier at the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Bandaged is the German/American film directed by S&M filmmaker Maria Beatty and produced by Abel Ferrare, which has been described as a cross between Mädchen in uniform, Eyes without a face and the English patient.

Or as Lauren Wiscot called it in her sneak preview of the movie over at the House next door, “A stunningly visceral cocktail of sex and bodily terror.” Does that make you excited about this movie, or is it just me?

Bandaged tells the story of Lucille (played by Janna Lisa Dombrowsky), a shy, young girl living in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, with a very domineering father who controls most aspects of her life. Seeing no way out, just before her eighteenth birthday Lucille attempts to kill herself, but fails.

Instead, she is left covered in horrible burns. Her dad arranges a private nurse Joan (played by Susanne Sachsse) to come stay at the mansion and take care of Lucille. Spending 24/7 together in the creepy secluded mansion, it is only a matter of time before the two girls get involved into a torrid affair.

Both Maria Beatty and Abel Ferrare are mainly known for their work on erotic films, whereas Beatty produced a lot of erotic lesbian films, including a lot of fetish stuff, Ferrare was involved with movies with titles like Strap-on motel. Yep, you guessed it, that would be porn. Bandages is their first more mainstream movie, but I bet there will still be sex scenes a plenty.


That covers the sex part of the movie, but I am still not exactly sure why this movie is called a thriller, or an “old-style horror” film. I guess bad and creepy things will take place in the secluded mansion, besides all the hot lesbian love.

Don’t get your hopes up too much about the latter though, as Lauren Wiscot describes, “For all of the graphic shots of tongue kissing and nipple licking, there is absolutely no chemistry between the two.”

Even though chemistry is subjective to a certain extend, Wiscot’s later comment might be something more important to contemplate, when deciding whether or not to go see this film. “When Lucille’s face starts to decompose as she climaxes […] it’s a triumphant moment in the annals of gory art films that would make Cronenberg stand up and cheer – but is it hot?” My question would be: is it art or is it smut?

The movie premiered in France this week and will also be shown this month at the Athens Gay & Lesbian film festival, as well as at other film festivals around the world. Official dates of cinema releases across Europe have not been announced yet.

Is this a movie you’d be interested in watching?