Back when Maddy O’Reilly announced this project—her first solo directorial effort—she told AVN, “I have so many crazy ideas, and I’ve always wanted to see them come to life on camera.” She’s succeeded wildly in finding hospitable ground for her vision at Deviant Entertainment, and the result is a harrowing journey into, as the box cover puts it, “the darker side of entertainment.”

In four scenes, O'Reilly creates intense duets between vulnerable female captives and the crazy dudes who dominate them. The lighting is harsh and dramatic; makeup, wardrobe and music choices all further the end of making these encounters intense and alarming.

Even more intense are the scenarios themselves. Veruca James, crouching behind bars and wearing finger spreaders, cowers as a maniacal Prince Yahshua rattles her cage—literally. He pulls out a pill bottle and finds it empty; that’s gotta be bad news for James, who’s the focus of his bipolar swings between rage and tenderness. But the sweet-faced lass can take it all, even when Yahshua lifts her off the ground while choking her. The weird emotional mix of pain and pleasure makes it believable that this is a shared fantasy rather than the product of an unwilling abduction. Otherwise, we’d be rooting for the team from Criminal Minds to burst through the door at the end.

Tommy Pistol matches Yahshua quirk for quirk in an equally terrifying turn as Dahlia Sky’s captor. On the outside of her considerably larger cell, he demands to know why she hasn’t drunk the water he’s left for her in a dog bowl. Big mistake—because Pistol now begins his own form of water torture that ends with a rough fuck on a wet concrete floor under minimal light that had to leave both performers shivering.

Skin Diamond’s scene begins with her blindfolded and handcuffed as John Strong sneaks though a warehouse to possess her. There’s a lot of breath play here, and while the lighting and soundtrack also raise the fear factor, the intensity isn’t as high—though Diamond is, as always, a fierce performer who understands both sides of power exchange.

Finally, director O’Reilly does one scene and she’s chosen Mr. Pete as her tormenter. At first she’s smoking a cigar, looking slightly smug; Pete wipes that look off her face by grabbing the smoker and using her mouth as an ashtray (probably the most gasp-inducing moment here).

After that it’s game on, and the consummate submissive is more than up for the harsh fucking, which includes anal. Mr. Pete possesses her soft body thoroughly, both inside and outside of a small cage, before finishing up on her face. It’s a fitting end to a movie that might not be to everyone’s taste, but those who are up for it will enjoy this celebration of submission.