In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Eva, an upper-class housewife, frustratedly leaves her arrogant husband and decides to enter the call girl business. She lets Yvonne, a prostitute, teach her the basics and both set out for prey together, until Eva starts an affair with Chris, who turns out to be a call boy, as well. Consequently, she moves into his penthouse, large enough for both to offer their services separately.
Iris and Isaac's first weekend away as a couple is going so well — until Isaac mentions he didn’t know they were a couple. Convinced she's met her perfect guy and that he's just confused, Iris goes to increasingly ridiculous and irrational lengths to prove to Isaac that they are meant to be together.
A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
The beautiful O is taken by her boyfriend, Rene, to a bizarre retreat, where she is trained in bondage and sexual perversion...
College buddies chip in and promise that the group's last unmarried man will collect a cash pot. Seven years later, the kitty is worth $500,000 -- money Michael needs to pay a gambling debt. Problem is, the only other single guy is a hopeless womanizer!
A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.
It was a tumultuous time. In the early Meiji period, there was the first photographer in Japan who lived a heroic life. What fascinated him with photography was a photograph of a naked woman.
A beautiful young ballet dancer is accepted into a prestigious and exclusive dance academy. Overjoyed at the opportunity to further her career and repair her relationship with her boyfriend, she soon discovers that the academy has a dark side to it--and she may not be able to escape it.
Singapore Sling is chasing after Laura, a romantic memory from his past. One night he finds himself in a mysterious villa, watching two women bury a body. He falls into their trap and, in an atmosphere of isolation and decadence, the trio act out insane pleasure games and a ritual of blood and murder.
After ending a six year relationship, a well-behaved, Jewish, OBGYN decides to turn her brain off and her body on by exploring BDSM; instances of which are popping up in the most unusual places.
Marie, a teenage vagabond whose lust for life will eventually lead her to the bed of the mysterious Sandra. What begins as a blissful relationship soon takes a violent turn however, as Sandra tries to take full control over the innocent girl's life.
From an ominous Lecturer, a small 1930s middle American community learns of the Harper Affair, in which young Jimmy Harper finds his life of promise turn into a life of debauchery and murder thanks to the new drug menace marijuana. Along the way, he receives help from his girlfriend Mary and Jesus Himself, but always finds himself in the arms of the Reefer Man and the rest of the denizens of the Reefer Den.
A computer wizard infiltrates a London sex club to get evidence for a shutdown, but falls for the proprietress.
In 1997, the Belgian public was in shock when judge Koen A. was convicted for the S&M relationship with his wife. Although their life was destroyed by the verdict, Koen and his wife Magda remain together today. The film is a story about dark sexuality and true love, told from the lover's unique point of view
A prudish married couple feel put upon by the swingers living in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to both rid themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and simultaneously realize their dream of opening a restaurant.
A younger brother picks up a woman on the street and takes her home, and his older sister ties her up with rope, shaves her, trains her in a perverted way, turns her into a fine perverted masochist, and then sells her off to a man who is an enthusiast in that field. In the heat of excitement, the master and disciple indulge in incest. One day, the younger brother, who was living this lifestyle, sees a girl on the street. The girl sells a match to a drunkard for 500 yen and shows her private parts by the light of the match. When the younger brother asks her why she does this, she answers that her mother did the same thing. She says that since her mother died, she is doing the same thing to survive. When the younger brother takes the girl home, the fate of the master and disciple begins to change...
Out of all of his children, an elderly father prefers his sickly youngest daughter. She will inherit his estate. His remaining children seek to take control through murder and rope...
A girl is sold to a brothel. She is destined to become a prostitute, but because she is still a child, she is made to work as a maid there. Because she grew up in the countryside, she is careless in everything she does, and is constantly mocked by the landlady and the prostitutes who work there. One day, the girl takes the undergarment she was ordered to wear and heads to the room of a prostitute's older sister. As soon as she opens the sliding door, she is shocked. There she finds her older sister tied up with rope and being tortured by a male customer. The girl instinctively shouts "Stop it!", but is shocked to see that the older sister does not seem to mind, but rather seems to enjoy it. Before long, the girl is unable to get the scene out of her head, and begins to secretly tie ropes around herself in her room...