Forbidden

Forbidden is the very first release for a brand-assed new production company, Sapphire Films , so our expectations were not high. Even with a talented director (Robert Kubilos of I Like to Play Games fame) and cast, including fan-favorite Renee Rea, we had to ask: just how good could a first effort be? The short answer is good. Really good. In fact, Forbidden is one erotic film that comes damn close to achieving softcore perfection.

The story begins at a bachelor party going full tilt. The music is loud, the booze is flowing, and the guys are going ga-ga as naked babes everywhere are putting on an eye-popping display of T & A. It’s one of those edge-of-control parties where everyone is having a wild time-everyone, that is, except Jason (Dillon Silver), the guest of honor, who apparently is in no mood for it. While his buddies enjoy hot, grinding lapdances, Jason excuses himself to the hotel café for a reflective moment or two and, unintentionally, meets an attractive young woman named Nikki (Renee Rea). It begins innocently enough, but they hit it off, talk and laugh the night away, and experience an emotional connection than turns physical. They part company, agreeing that their blissful night of passion will forever be kept a secret.

Three years later. Jason is comfortably married, but perhaps not totally fulfilled. Sex with his wife Lisa (Tracy Ryan) ain’t bad (as we see in two frolickingly-good scenes) but he still finds himself thinking about that magical night of his bachelor party, the special girl, and what might have been. Imagine his surprise when Nikki-now going by “Monique”-is introduced to him as the fiancee of his best friend at a weekend getaway. Initial confusion and awkwardness soon gives way to the undeniable attraction that resurfaces. That’s when things start to get interesting.

With just four primary characters, and no others who get any real dialogue or screen time, one might think the story would be a simple one and have limited erotic potential. Not the case. What we’re drawn into are complex relationships and situations that are compelling and, at least initially, relatively plausible (what a concept!). What this means, my horny friends, is that there’s heat aplenty, even in the nonsex scenes, most of which serve to charge the atmosphere for the actual couplings.

Forbidden is a strikingly well-shot film with obvious attention paid to technical detail. The sound quality is superb, as is the score. And connoisseurs of the female form take note: Forbidden is a visual delight throughout. The cinematography is among the best I’ve seen in a feature film in this genre. Fully clothed, Tracy and Renee look great. Nude and in the throes of passion, they’re gorgeous, and fortunately we’re treated to generous displays of each in several memorable scenes, including a three-way shower fantasy that has the two wet babes together with a very imaginative Jason.

To be sure, there’s not one weak or “filler” sex scene in this flick; however, viewers should know that the sex is rather conventional. It is, after all, erotic entertainment marketed to the broader “couples” audience. But with frequent sights such as those of Renee Rea and her partner together on a moonlit night, his head between her smooth legs spread wide, her back arched with her lovely breasts pushed out, head tossed back in pre-orgasmic ecstasy.I doubt that few fans will find much to complain about.