E56 | Love and Leaches ( Film)

<p>Love never hurt so good for two co-workers who enter a contractual relationship as partners in consensual play, pleasure and pain.</p><p><strong>"Love and Leashes</strong>" fills an important void in the romantic drama and comedy scene, especially after the debable which was<strong> "50 Shades of Gray"</strong>. The movie offers a heartfelt and fresh take on BDSM-centered relationships while managing to explain some of the most basic concepts even to those who may be unfamiliar with BDSM. BDSM-centered movies are already few and far between, but what's even rarer are those interested in portraying a healthy BDSM relationship between consenting adults, as BDSM has a long history to excuse and explain away toxic relationships. Such is not the case here, as "Love and Leashes" really wants to write home about its message that there is nothing wrong to enjoy BDSM as long as it's done consensually and that real life BDSM has often little to nothing to do with what is portrayed in the porn industry. However, as much as "Love and Leashes" wants to push for a BDSM-positive message, it ultimately fails to deliver a compelling story without regurgitating the typical romantic comedy and drama tropes we've already seen a million times before, all the way down to the identity switch situation. Most notably, I wish "Love and Leashes" would have told us more about its side characters, something the movie does surprisingly well, as antagonists like Hana show up but never create the conflict she was intended to cause. I give it <strong>3/5</strong> because I think "Love and Leashes" wants to send an important message and that it does do some things right, such as the chemistry between the two main leads and its questioning of gender norms and how they impact our approach towards romantic and sexual relationships, but unfortunately "Love and Leashes" stops there, ultimately leaving the viewer with a shallow feeling. Would "Love and Leashes" be a bit less reliant on your typical romcom tropes and really focus on its cent