Nude Tuesday

What’s it about?

Laura and Bruno go on a couples’ retreat in a last ditch attempt to save their marriage. At the retreat, they participate in bizarre workshops, tantric dance and listen to the lectures of sexual liberation guru, Bjorg Rassmussen, in an attempt to figure out what they want from their relationship.

The facts

• Directed by Armagan Ballantyne
• Aotearoa‑made production
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Set in an imaginary country and told in a made-up language

Why did it get this rating?

Sex and nudity

The film contains almost continuous references to sex and occasional sex scenes. The sex scenes avoid nudity, focusing on over-the-top verbalisations of pleasure and movement. There are many scenes at the retreat where characters massage each other’s bodies suggestively or cup each other’s clothed crotches. The effect of these scenes is comic.

There is also an extended sequence where the characters go on a nude nature hike through the snow for ‘nude Tuesday’. Naked breasts, buttocks and penises are depicted. The scenes are not sexual.

Drug use

Characters drink tea made from psychedelic mushrooms gathered in the forest. While the drug taking makes the characters look foolish it also presents the experience of being ‘high’ as fun. There are no serious consequences. It trivialises and normalises the consumption of psychedelic substances.

Offensive language

The film contains occasional offensive language. ‘F**k’ and its derivatives are used to express distress and insult others but the effect is nearly always light-hearted and comic. The comic effect is likely to inure younger viewers to aggressive offensive language and may encourage some to imitate it.