Everything in prison psychologist Lilian’s life - her body, emotions and desires - is tightly controlled and deeply repressed, finding an outlet only in her compulsive use of pornography. Afraid of human connection, she feels as trapped within herself as the prisoners whose behaviour she is tasked with assessing. When her father, whom she met only once, dies, Lilian must return to her native Bulgaria. Instead of being allowed to grieve, she faces bureaucratic obstacles and the debts he left behind. An unexpected encounter with a master of shibari - the Japanese art of rope bondage - leads her to surrender control to another person and, at last, find release. Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova’s frank exploration of BDSM celebrates women’s sexual freedom while tracing the imprint of trauma on bodily memory.
