Going Under

In Going Under, Peter, a married psychotherapist, and Suzanne, a professional dominatrix, have been engaged in an affair of sensual dominance and submission in an S&M dungeon where they must abide by the rules. They decide to step away from those rules when they agree to see each other outside the dungeon. As Peter becomes increasingly obsessed with the troubled Suzanne, they embark on a sordid psycho-sexual journey into their tortured pasts through their most carnal desires.

Peter is paying for the fantasy of being dominated that in many ways fulfills him, but he wants to bring the fantasy into reality. The dominatrix is fulfilling his fantasy, but is not in love with him. Though the relationship may be doomed from the start they both gain something from the journey.

Like Secretary before it Going Under touches the world of S&M without making it into a joke or treating the people as evil or wrong, capturing the subtleties of human emotion inside an S&M relationship. The film also touches on the consequences that can occur with the blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality.