La petite mort is French for “the little death” and refers to the moment of orgasm.
This little death is the story of a number of people and the kinks in their sex lives. We follow a series of small stories about couples exploring a few variations. For old timers like me, it is reminiscent of Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). We have a setup and then a little slide that gives the name of the desire to have sex with someone who is sleeping or crying. We then see how having these desires can lead to complications in one’s life. The Little Death is a little less ambitious than Everything You Always Wanted To Know.
There are a few smiles here and there and most of the film has a nice feel to it. But it sets an unpleasant tone right off the bat when the woman in our first little story says that she would like to be raped. Another couple only has sex when the woman is drugged and unable to give consent. And another takes role playing a little too seriously.
Then we have a cookie baking, friendly smiling sex offender making the rounds in the neighborhood. The cookies are in the shape of golliwogs, a racist cartoon character that I was blissfully unaware of until now. So maybe he isn’t all that nice. The obvious setup is that the woman with the rape fantasy will be raped and it will not be a fantasy. What actually happens with the sex offender, who is both nice and totally creepy at the same time, is a bit more unexpected.
Easily the best bit of the film comes near the end, where we find a pretty hearing impaired woman working as an operator at a place that translates calls for deaf people. A man needs help with a call to a phone sex worker. The scene is funny and touching on many levels.
Australian director/writer Josh Lawson is a little heavy handed with his song selections, picking cheesy and cliched tunes that fit the situations a little too perfectly.
I wasn’t a fan of the ending. Nothing good happens to any of the people who embrace their kinky sides. And a couple of shocking, violent things happen. I tend to prefer a little less bloodshed in my romcoms.
