honors film analysis - movies centering prostitution/sex work
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- DirectorDaniel MannStarsSusan HaywardDean MartinWilfrid Hyde-WhitePolitical drama about a honest but naive gubernatorial candidate who is manipulated by his corrupt campaign manager and is forced to temporarily cede power to his wife, a woman of integrity despite her shameful past.
- DirectorJason StoddardStarsLeslie EasterbrookKane HodderJ.D. HartA story of incomprehensible abuse delivered by an explosively violent mother of four. Journey through the mind of a child that experiences a living hell, defined and defended by the twisted religious beliefs of her mother.
- DirectorJoey SolowayStarsKathryn HahnLink RuizCesar GarciaRachel tries to spice up her marriage with a trip to a strip club. She befriends McKenna, who gave her a lapdance. McKenna moves in with Rachel's family and becomes a nanny for the son.
- DirectorDaniel FarrandsStarsPeyton ListTobin BellLydia HearstThe early years of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who marries a wealthy, older man in 1976, only to inflict mayhem within her new family and Florida's high society.
- DirectorPau MasóDavid DamenStarsPau MasóAnatoli GrigoriadouJosh BerresfordTraumatized by his mother's death and struggling to make ends meet, illegal immigrant Aleksandr Ivanov turns to escorting and soon finds himself sinking into the dark world of New York City's sex trade -- and pushed to the edge of sanity.
- DirectorJohn ErmanStarsLeigh McCloskeyEve PlumbJuliet MillsA teenaged boy arrives in Hollywood to become a movie star, but winds up becoming a male prostitute and gets involved with a gay football star.
- DirectorDon McBreartyStarsLawrence DayLora StaleyNeil DainardA man investigates the disappearance of his sister with the help of her roommate. He uncovers a trail of prostitution, incest, blackmail...and murder.
- DirectorDustin FergusonStarsBen GothierMichelle Muir-LewisJulia Farrell40 years after the original Amityville murders, a cursed antique toy finds its way to a brand new family-who become the latest victims of possession in the undying legacy of evil.
- DirectorRobert Vincent O'NeilStarsCliff GormanSusan TyrrellDick ShawnMolly, a high schooler, secretly earns her living as Angel, a street prostitute whose only family and friends are the ones she works with on the streets. She has to survive against a serial killer who is targeting people of her profession.
- DirectorJohn Griffith WrayThomas H. InceStarsBlanche SweetWilliam RussellGeorge F. MarionA troubled young woman comes to live with her estranged father on the New York waterfront. A tough sailor falls in love with her, sparking conflict between her father and her suitor. What neither knows is that she has a secret that could cause her to lose both of them.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboCharles BickfordGeorge F. MarionA young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsGreta GarboTheo ShallHans JunkermannA young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsEartha KittFrederick O'NealHenry ScottA young woman struggling with a sordid past finds that her biggest enemy had larger demons than she did.
- DirectorDavid RossStarsLauren BirkellPaul BorgheseChira CasselAfter fooling around with one of her customers, a teenager turns her babysitting service into a call-girl service for married guys.
- DirectorAlex PettyferStarsAlex PettyferJennifer MorrisonNicola Peltz BeckhamIn 1993, Harley's dad is shot dead and his mom goes to prison. He has to earn money and look after his 3 kid sisters. No college. Over 2 years, family secrets are slowly revealed. Will a good therapist be enough?
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsMadeleine StoweMary Stuart MastersonAndie MacDowellFour prostitutes join together to travel the Old West.
- DirectorMichael GoldenbergStarsChristian SlaterMary Stuart MastersonPamela AdlonRomantic drama about a young career girl who is swept off her feet by a shy florist who fell in love with her after one glimpse through a shadowy window.
- DirectorColin HigginsStarsBurt ReynoldsDolly PartonDom DeLuiseA town's Sheriff and regular patron of a historical whorehouse fights to keep it running when a television reporter targets it as the Devil's playhouse.
- DirectorHarvey HartStarsFaye DunawayMelody AndersonDonna DixonA madam to a group of high-class call girls faces a series of crises which could unravel her carefully built empire.
- DirectorPhilip GilbertStarsGloria GrahameMelody PattersonMilton SelzerAfter her prostitute mother is murdered, a teenage girl is sent to a remote orphanage run by a mysterious woman and her handyman, both whom she comes to suspect are hiding dark secrets.
- DirectorJoseph ZitoStarsJames JohnsonJudith-Marie BerganJerry McGeeA sexually frustrated young man kills hookers.
- DirectorSergei GoncharoffRon NicholasStarsAnne ChapmanNicholas WayneMary Beth HughesA young girl with a shady past travels to Los Angeles and finds herself getting mixed up in the seedy and dark underbelly of the city.
- DirectorMartin KoolhovenStarsGuy PearceDakota FanningEmilia JonesFrom the moment the new Reverend climbs the pulpit, Liz knows that she and her family are in great danger.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsElizabeth TaylorLaurence HarveyEddie FisherA beautiful New York model and socialite enjoys a very active night-life, but all things change when she falls for a married man and the consequences are tragic.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsJane FondaAlan AldaMaggie SmithMisadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
- DirectorCharles McDougallStarsJamie-Lynn SiglerSaul RubinekEmmanuelle VaugierThe story of Heidi Fleiss, known as "The Hollywood Madam", who was the daughter of a prominent Los Angeles doctor and eventually became a prostitute for a well-known Los Angeles madam. She took over her boss' operation and soon was raking in $300,000 a month by hiring only the most beautiful and highest-class hookers and catering to wealthy Hollywood types, European and American corporate executives and Arab sheiks. Her operation was broken up by Los Angeles police in 1993, and she eventually went to prison for income-tax evasion.
- DirectorMatt CimberStarsJohn DanielsEli HainesTom HankasonSunset Boulevard is a lucrative place to work for the Black Baron, a pimp with a distinctive red and yellow Rolls Royce and plenty of girls on his books. He don't take no mess from his girls, his madam or his competitors and viciously defends his patch. First, he clobbers the Mob who attempt to move in on his patch. Second, he tracks down one of his girls who runs off with a suitcase full of his cash. Third, he disposes of two policemen. But by now he knows his pimping days are numbered, so after a final explosive gun battle he switches to being his alter ego, mild-mannered businessman Ron who lives out in the leafy suburbs with an unsuspecting wife and family.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsShane EdelmanBalthazar GettyMolly ParkerA successful computer engineer meets a stripper in a cafe. He offers her $10,000 and she offers three days and nights of no penetration in Vegas.
- DirectorGene KellyStarsJames StewartHenry FondaShirley JonesAn aging cowboy finds to his embarrassment that the successful business he has inherited from his brother is actually a house of prostitution.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsJames CaanMarsha MasonKirk CallowayA lonely Navy sailor falls in love with a hooker and becomes a surrogate father figure for her son during an extended liberty due to his service records being lost.
- CreatorJordan BuddeSuzanne MartinStarsJennifer Love HewittLoretta DevineColin EgglesfieldRiley is a single mother living in a small Texas town and leading a shocking double life.
- DirectorMichael Ray RhodesStarsTori SpellingSusan BlakelyScott PlankThanks to a roommate's practical joke, bookish college student Joanna Halbert finds herself signed up with a Malibu-based escort service. Her initial annoyance turns to curiosity when she visits the boss's beach house, and she is soon captivated by the seemingly glamorous lifestyle of working as a high-class escort. Before long, however, she realizes that glitz and money go hand in hand with exploitation and sleaze--and it may be too late to get out.
- DirectorStacie PassonStarsRobin WeigertMaggie SiffJohnathan TchaikovskyAfter a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.
- DirectorDaniel MazeStarsSteve GuttenbergJames DuvalLiz Nicole AbramsDuring their nightly poker game, a group of lowlifes are terrorized in their own convenience store by a masked killer.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsKathleen TurnerAnthony PerkinsBruce DavisonA mysterious woman, fashion designer by day and prostitute by night, is hounded by two men: a married father of two children and a sexually repressed preacher.
- DirectorNick MillardStarsPriscilla AldenMichael FloodJane LambertAn obese woman recently released from an insane asylum kills anyone who attempts to get her to stop eating.
- DirectorAdam AhlbrandtStarsIsaac WilliamsNatalie JeanJ.D. BrownHeather is broke. She has a soul sucking job as a stripper. Her live-in girlfriend Victoria has a baby and a coke problem. Her boss Harry is an abusive maniac. Life cannot get much worse... or so she thought. Determined to get out of this living hell, Heather and her lover, Bunny, plan to rip off Harry, ditch Victoria, and leave town to live out their days on the Greek islands in peaceful bliss. One big score is all they need, and Harry gives them the opportunity when he asks them to take care of a drug deal with one of his clients at an old warehouse. As Heather and her friends arrive, everything seems to be going fine until they make a grizzly discovery and are trapped inside by a rambling, religious maniac hell-bent on purifying the Earth of its sins through murder and destruction. Armed with a carpenter's hammer and a fanatic passion, the Cross Bearer hunts Heather and her friends down one-by-one in a sadistic crusade to burn clean the filth of the world. Heather's dreams are shattered and if she survives nothing will ever be the same. Unflinchingly raw, primal, and horrifying, Cross Bearer is a trip to the darkest, most vile side of humanity.
- DirectorBharat NalluriStarsKirsten DunstWilliam AthertonDebbie FanAlex Corvis returns to the world of the living to solve the murder of a young woman that he was wrongly accused of.
- DirectorMarshall HerskovitzStarsCatherine McCormackRufus SewellOliver PlattA Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.
- DirectorRandal KleiserStarsEve PlumbLeigh McCloskeyLynn CarlinA 15-year-old girl runs away from home and arrives in Hollywood, but winds up becoming a prostitute to support herself and gets involved with a tough-talking pimp.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDonald SutherlandKaren BlackBurgess MeredithAn art director in the 1930s falls in love and attempts to make a young woman an actress despite Hollywood who wants nothing to do with her because of her problems with an estranged man and her alcoholic father.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenJudy DavisJulia Louis-DreyfusSuffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.
- DirectorHenry Alex RubinStarsJason BatemanJonah BoboHaley RammA drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGeorge BancroftBetty CompsonOlga BaclanovaA blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
- DirectorMichael PressmanStarsDan AykroydHoward HessemanDonna DixonA pimp on the run trusts his sex workers to a meek professor of literature, who accepts the challenge.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael CaineAngie DickinsonNancy AllenA mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
- DirectorChad FerrinStarsTimothy MuskatellRicardo GrayCharlotte MarieWhen a disabled teenager is tormented by his mother's lowlife lover and colleagues, a killer masquerading as the Easter Bunny sets out to avenge their heinous crimes.
- DirectorMegan GriffithsStarsJamie ChungBeau BridgesMatt O'LearyA young Korean-American girl, abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers, cooperates with her captors in a desperate ploy to survive.
- DirectorWill SlocombeStarsLyndsy FonsecaMichael DonegerTommy DeweyDesperate for a good story, a sex-addicted journalist throws himself into the world of high-class escorts when he starts following a Stanford-educated prostitute.
- DirectorRonnie CramerStarsAndren ScottSarah YoungJean WolfThis is the story of Marcus Templeton, a lonely security guard who blows all of his life savings on prostitutes because he is a TOTAL LOSER!
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsJohn MarleyGena RowlandsLynn CarlinA middle-aged man leaves his wife for another woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner. The film follows their struggles to find love amongst each other.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsDenzel WashingtonNadine VelazquezDon CheadleTroubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
- DirectorSean BakerStarsBrooklynn PrinceBria VinaiteWillem DafoeSet over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Walt Disney World.
- DirectorMadeleine OlnekStarsGian Maria AnnoviNuotama BodomoDiane CieslaTwo lesbian hookers wind their way through a world of bargain-hunting housewives and double-dealing conservative women in this buddy comedy, an homage to and riff on iconic male hustler films. Margaret is a down-on-her-luck hooker in training, who meets up with Jo, a beautiful and self-assured grifter from a wealthy family and an expert on servicing women, even as she considers herself proudly heterosexual. The film follows their adventures together on the street, through encounters with husky-voiced seductresses, mumbling erotic accessory salesmen and shopaholic swingers. Navigating the bizarre fetishes and sexual needs of their 'dates' brings into focus the hilarious and pathetic disparity between the two hookers, fellow travelers who will share the road together but only for a while.
- DirectorFrank HenenlotterStarsJames LorinzJoanne RitchiePatty MullenA medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsNatasha LyonneMaría CeledonioDavid Alan GrierA teenage prostitute escapes from a juvenile prison with a 16-year-old serial killer and both go on a destructive road trip to Mexico in this twist on the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsRuth ChattertonLouis CalhernHelen Jerome EddyThe San Francisco earthquake shakes up the life of Jenny, a madam who gives birth to an illegitimate son and gives him up to protect him.
- DirectorMélanie LaurentStarsBen FosterJeffrey GroverChristopher AmitranoAfter escaping a set up, a dying hitman returns to his hometown of Galveston where he plans his revenge.
- DirectorElmer CliftonStarsMartha ChapinWheeler OakmanBryant WashburnYoung girls are cheated in rigged gambling games and then forced into prostitution to pay off their debts.
- DirectorDamian HarrisStarsGillian JacobsJohn MalkovichRyan SimpkinsAfter being abducted as children, and suffering years of abuse, a teenage boy and girl find themselves living on the street.
- DirectorJoseph CatesStarsAnne FrancisLloyd NolanKay MedfordGirl of the Night is about Bobbie (Anne Francis), a sensitive, lonely call girl who is manipulated and ultimately used by her madame, played by Kay Medford.
- DirectorRanald MacDougallCharles WaltersStarsGina LollobrigidaAnthony FranciosaErnest BorgnineSon of a successful Greek emigrant is torn between the expectations his father has for him and his passionate love affair with a beautiful prostitute.
- DirectorJon SpringerStarsMark BorchardtNadine GrossCyndi KurtzDouglas Elmore is an alcoholic writer and caretaker haunted by visions of his dead wife and pursued by supernatural forces bent on revenge for his past deeds. When tenants start turning up dead in the hallways and stairwells of his brownstone apartment building, Douglas suspects a strange but sexually alluring homeless prostitute named Karna who sleeps in his basement by day and prowls the empty city by night. But as the bodies pile up, Douglas is torn between his growing obsession with Karna and the threat of becoming a prime suspect in a murder investigation. Douglas must find the origin of the evil residing in the old Hagstone building before the secrets of his past return to destroy him.
- DirectorNicholas SgarroStarsLynn RedgraveJean-Pierre AumontLovelady PowellIn the first of three films on the life of Xaviera Hollander, the famous hooker from Holland traces her career as madam of the biggest and most profitable bordellos in New York.
- DirectorAlan RobertsStarsMartine BeswickChris LemmonAdam WestA prostitute writes a bestseller book about her profession which attracts the attention of a studio executive who attempts to adapt it into a movie. They have a falling off and she decides to make the film on her own despite sabotage.
- DirectorWilliam A. LeveyStarsJoey HeathertonGeorge HamiltonRay WalstonThe world's most famous madame Xaviera Hollander, now a magazine magnate, is called to Washington to testify before Congress in an indecency trial because she's being held up as a prime example of American moral decay.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGeorge C. ScottPeter BoyleSeason HubleyA religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.
- DirectorPaul MorrisseyStarsJoe DallesandroSylvia MilesAndrea FeldmanSpoof of the casual sexual adventures of a one-time child actor in Hollywood. It also involves a bratty on-again, off-again lesbian character.
- DirectorNiclas GillisStarsTianna AllenPrince Richard CombsTanisha LambrightBased on true events, Hold Me Down depicts a day in the life of a 19-year-old single mother in the Bronx who works as a stripper at an illegal nightclub to support her child.
- DirectorRussell RouseStarsShelley WintersRobert TaylorCesar RomeroBiopic of notorious New York City Madam Polly Adler, set during the Roaring Twenties.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBurt ReynoldsCatherine DeneuveBen JohnsonAt the instigation of a grieving father, a Los Angeles cop investigates the suspicious circumstances of a girl's apparent suicide.
- DirectorCraig BrewerStarsTerrence HowardLudacrisAnthony AndersonWith help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
- DirectorJames CruzeH. Bruce HumberstoneErnst LubitschStarsGary CooperCharles LaughtonW.C. FieldsA dying tycoon gives million-dollar windfalls to eight people picked from the city directory.
- DirectorJames GrayStarsMarion CotillardJoaquin PhoenixJeremy RennerIn 1921, an innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.
- DirectorPatrick CoyleStarsJeremy SistoKristin ChenowethBrian BaumgartnerA prostitute plans to end her life on her birthday, but her priest attempts to stop her from doing so.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsDavid CarusoLinda FiorentinoChazz PalminteriA bright assistant D.A. investigates a gruesome hatchet murder and hides a clue he found at the crime scene. Under professional threats and an attempt on his life, he goes on heartbroken because evidence point to the woman he still loves.
- DirectorRichard PryorStarsRichard PryorDebbie AllenArt EvansAfter severely burning himself in a drug incident, a comedian has a near death experience in which he reviews his life.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsWesley SnipesAnnabella SciorraSpike LeeFriends and family of a married Black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.
- DirectorWayne RobertsStarsChristopher AbbottMary SteenburgenOlivia CookeA kindhearted 17-year-old in the American Southwest turns to prostitution to fulfill her dream of a new life in San Francisco.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsDean MartinKim NovakRay WalstonJealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJane FondaDonald SutherlandCharles CioffiA small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
- DirectorRobert HallStarsBobbi Sue LutherKevin GageLena HeadeyA young girl wakes up in a casket with a head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by a serial killer and she must fight to survive.
- DirectorDavid SchwartzStarsAri LevinRebecca GandaraBarbara BellAfter Sam's wife has betrayed him, he goes on a bloody killing spree in Las Vegas.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsJennifer Jason LeighStephen LangBurt YoungSet in Brooklyn during the 1950s against a backdrop of union corruption and violence. A prostitute falls in love with one of her customers. Also a disturbed man discovers that he is homosexual.
- DirectorMike FiggisStarsNicolas CageElisabeth ShueJulian SandsBen Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
- DirectorBuddy GiovinazzoStarsEvan RossStephanie LugoMaurice BlakeVarious stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets.
- DirectorMark BrooksPeter GilstrapStarsMark BrooksPeter GilstrapBernie MacA nine year old boy hustles his ho's around the neighborhood.
- DirectorMarvin J. ChomskyStarsDavid SoulLouis Gossett Jr.Linda PurlThe sister of ex-pimp and current Los Angeles Police detective Kyle York was murdered working the streets a few years ago. Since his reform, he has teamed with Officer Russ Garfield to clear the streets of underage girls working in prostitution. Pretty, young runaway Hailey Atkins has been turned out. Down deep she wants to go straight, but has had great difficultly escaping her pimp, and doesn't even have a place to go. York and Garfield go out on a limb to try and help.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsHelen MirrenJoe PesciSergio Peris-MenchetaA drama revolving around a married couple who opened the first legal brothel in Nevada.
- DirectorGeorge HickenlooperStarsAndy GarciaMick JaggerJulianna MarguliesA failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
- DirectorFranck KhalfounStarsElijah WoodNora ArnezederAmerica OlivoAs he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
- DirectorJack WeisStarsCurt DawsonGwen ArmentWilliam MetzoPolice try to capture someone who is commiting ritual murders of women during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsWarren BeattyJulie ChristieRene AuberjonoisA gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMira SorvinoPamela BlairWhen he discovers his adopted son is a genius, a New York sportswriter seeks out the boy's birth mother: a ditzy porn star and prostitute.
- DirectorRichard BenjaminStarsMelanie GriffithEd HarrisMichael Patrick CarterA group of young boys befriend a prostitute named V.
- DirectorChuck BowmanStarsLinda GrayJamie LunerJames EckhouseAfter a young prostitute is murdered and left in a rubbish heap, her mother does everything to track down the killer.
- DirectorRobert L. CollinsStarsKaren ValentineJamie Lee CurtisLinda PurlThree middle-class housewives who are having money problems join a prostitution ring.