Berkeley, 1988. Thirty-eight year old Mark O’Brien has required the use of an iron lung since age six due to a bout of polio. Beyond the multitude of physical issues he has, including having a form of paralysis from the neck down (he not having use of the muscles but having the feelings of them) and thus being bedridden, he has total capacity of his mental facilities, has obtained a degree in English Literature from UC-Berkeley, and is a poet and journalist.
He doesn’t like it when others, especially his around-the-clock attendants, feel like he needs them more than they need him. He is a devout Catholic, which makes it difficult for his compassionate new priest, Father Brendan, to counsel Mark when, following falling in love for the first time, with the woman in question not returning the feeling of love toward him in the same way, Mark tells him that he wants to feel all that is associated with love, including sex, probably outside of marriage.
To this point, Mark, who is able to have an erection but who cannot masturbate, has only associated his natural ejaculations with a feeling of guilt. As such, Mark, following discussions with a sex therapist, contemplates losing his virginity with the help of a sex surrogate, who, from her own professional perspective, is to provide him with the tools to enter into a loving sexual relationship down the road with someone else.
The surrogate the therapist recommends is Cheryl Cohen Greene, who has never had a patient like Mark before. As Mark and Cheryl begin to have discussions about what surrogacy means, they enter into a multi-person relationship, which also includes his many attendants, Father Brennan and Catholicism, and Cheryl’s own family of a husband and son. A question that may arise is if both Cheryl and especially Mark can keep their relationship purely professional with a finite life as it is intended.
The Sessions (originally titled The Surrogate) is a 2012 U.S. independent comedy drama film written and directed by Ben Lewin. It is based on the article “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate” by Mark O’Brien, a poet paralyzed from the neck down due to polio, who hired a sex surrogate to lose his virginity. John Hawkes and Helen Hunt star as O’Brien and sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene, respectively.
The film debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award (U.S. Dramatic) and a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting. Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the film’s distribution rights and released the film in October 2012. The Sessions received highly positive reviews from critics, in particular lauding the performances of Hawkes and Hunt. Hunt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 85th Academy Awards.
The Sessions (2012)
Directed by: Ben Lewin
Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Adam Arkin, Rhea Perlman, W. Earl Brown, Robin Weigert, Blake Lindsley, Jennifer Kumiyama
Screenplay by: Ben Lewin
Production Design by: John Mott
Cinematography by: Geoffrey Simpson
Film Editing by: Lisa Bromwell
Costume Design by: Justine Seymour
Set Decoration by: Sofia Jimenez
Music by: Marco Beltrami
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexuality including graphic nudity and frank dialogue.
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: November 16, 2012
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