When looking for one word to describe Adam & Eve’s new movie Babysitting the Baumgartners, “unicorn” comes to mind: this near mythic figure, in swinger parlance, is a single, smoking-hot bisexual woman who’ll play with a couple, no strings attached.

For one thing, the term aptly describes the main character: nubile babysitter Ronnie, played by Sara Luvv. For another, the movie itself is the porn equivalent of a unicorn, serving both sides of various erotic and aesthetic divides: men vs. women, feminist erotica vs. mainstream porn, even straight vs. kinky.

The force behind this sprawling epic—four hours long, broken down into 16 sex scenes on two DVDs—is writer/director Kay Brandt, who adapted the story from author Selena Kitt’s best-selling book. She’s no stranger to ambitious projects—for example, her girl/girl series Cherry (Digital Playground) and last year’s Safe Landings (also for Adam & Eve)—but Baumgartners far outstrips what she’s done before. And it should capture her widest audience to date.

The plot is simple, seen in its more base form in hundreds of “bang the babysitter” adult movies. But here one feels not just titillation but true arousal, and even wonder, at being offered a window into a young woman’s initiation into sexual maturity, guided by an experienced and loving couple.

As the many stories posted about this movie have noted, the sensual tour guides are played by real-life couple Anikka Albrite and Mick Blue—an almost accidental casting that turned into cinematic gold. These seasoned porn vets are able to shed their professional porn personae to focus instead on making their characters fully believable while at the same time an idealized version of an open marriage: two people at the peak of their sexual prowess who are both enamored and polyamorous. It would be fair to credit both Brandt’s direction and the pair’s own natural charm for the freshness of their performance.

As Ronnie, the inexperienced 19-year-old who shares in the sexual bounty, Sara Luvv more than fills the bill. Naturally wide-eyed, she looks astonished at each milestone she crosses with the Baumgartners. And each of the 16 scenes brings Ronnie one step further on the journey, from the first time she becomes aroused after sunbathing topless with Mrs. B (as Ronnie calls her), followed by voyeur scenes where she watches the Baumgartners make love. The tension heightens deliciously throughout, climaxing first when Mrs. B. picks out a micro-bikini for Ronnie, tsks over the young girl’s bush, and then shepherds her into the bathroom for a shave. As Mrs. B washes the shaving cream off Ronnie’s labia, it’s clear from her canny smile that she knows exactly the moment when Ronnie can’t hold back her orgasm. The combination of sexual excitement and emotion makes this scene a standout—and it features none of the acts that one would usually tick off when shooting a girl/girl scene.

The first DVD in the two-disc set has an abundance of similar non-formulaic scenes that earn it the “feminist porn” descriptor. But by the second disc, the scenes will become more familiar to porn aficionados, with the requisite boxes checked off: toys, deep throating, pop shots (including internal), more girl/girl (Luvv and A.J. Applegate), anal (one scene each for Albrite and Luvv). But what makes this so good as “couples porn” is the prevalence of foreplay—plenty of hugging, kissing, oral sex ... and more important, laughter. Throughout, the talent assembled here (among them director of photography Mike Quasar, production manager David Lord and producer Red Bud) is committed to creating a world that celebrates mutual, guilt-free pleasure. It’s the kind of adult entertainment worth brandishing at critics who say porn celebrates titillation, degradation and coercion. Yet at the same time it’s not afraid to give porn fans what they want: beautiful bodies fucking with athleticism, stamina and grace.