Fans of Sweetheart Video are quite familiar with the lesbian studio’s round-robin style of storytelling, with older and younger women taking turns with bedroom explorations. In this all-girl drama, director Dana Vespoli turns the formula into a finely observed character study in which she plays the pivotal role.

Vespoli’s self-titled character, Dana, has invited college chum Cherie (Cherie DeVille) and her daughter (Ivy Wolfe) out to Los Angeles. It’s immediately apparent that Dana and Cherie are more than friends. Dana’s happy to rekindle the flame after basically ghosting Cherie, but she doesn’t want to deal with any messy emotions. As daughter Izzy (Isabella Nice) puts it, Dana is “emotionally unavailable.” But she’s also irresistible to both Cherie and Ivy.

The dialogue scenes here feel spontaneous and natural, and the sex scenes offer a lot of variety, ranging from mature passion between Vespoli and DeVille to a girlish, giggle-laden reenactment of Izzy’s first brush with lesbian sex (a drunken hookup between Scarlett Sage and Eliza Jane). Vespoli works wonders with a small cast, limited locations and a bare-bones script to create a fully-fledged drama with emotional resonance.