Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes, then wunderkind Steven Soderbergh’s debut feature film marked the beginning of the director’s acclaimed career.

The Mullanys are locked in a dissatisfied suburban stasis. Unfulfilled and indifferent, Ann (Andie MacDowell) has checked out of her sexual relationship with husband John (Peter Gallagher), who is secretly sleeping with Ann’s sister, Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo) during work hours.

When John’s old college friend Graham (James Spader) visits, the couple overlooks his quiet intrusion into their physical space, but Graham’s propensity for incisive questions and filming interviews on his camcorder soon begins to disrupt their uneasy status quo.

Curator’s Note

Released in 1989, Steven Soderbergh’s provocative debut feature heralded the dawn of the 90s by foreshadowing the decade’s collective obsessions. Mostly pre-internet, the 90s were defined by more frank discussions about sexuality in the public sphere and the rampant “sex sells” ethos in film, TV and advertising.

Written in a week, filmed in one month and produced for only $1.2 million, Sex, Lies, and Videotape became a huge commercial and critical success, invigorating and elevating semi-independent American filmmaking in the process. Artist and filmmaker Miranda July credits the film as a major influence on her work, perhaps best observed in her dialogue and performance style – especially in her debut feature Me and You and Everyone We Know.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape sessions are scheduled to run alongside the Focus on Miranda July film season. This session can be purchased as an individual ticket or as part of a 3-Session or 6-Session Pass for that program.