in the first act kept asking myself what was the point of including 10+ male gaze-y sex scenes. i’m sorry but just having them isn’t automatically empowering, especially given that ivan clearly objectifies her and never thinks of her as more than a fling. (also watching this in a public theater was mortifying. it’s basically porn but we’re expected to treat it like arthouse)
i also found their love story utterly unconvincing, because we never get meaningful glimpses into her…
