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.
Single mother Diana struggles to provide for her child and pay for her college education. When she meets two dancers from a nearby gentlemen's club, Diana's convinced there's fast money to be made stripping.
Three Swedish girls are at boarding school and a bit bored with their lessons, so they travel to Hamburg to have a few adventures. Lil tries to get her teacher, who is staying with his girlfriend, around and the others have fun in the city's red light district. They want to spend the night with their sister, one of the Swedes, who supposedly works there as a secretary. Soon everything ends in turbulent entanglements...
A computer wizard infiltrates a London sex club to get evidence for a shutdown, but falls for the proprietress.
A talented African-American surgeon enters into a torrid relationship with a wealthy entrepreneur.
Photographer Elliot Slater has inadvertently snapped the only existing photos of elusive jewel thief Omar. When Elliot leaves for a private vacation on an S&M island, he is followed by Omar, Omar's partner, Nina, and undercover police officers Fred and Sheila. Unaware of the number of people chasing him, Elliot enjoys his stay at the resort, and finds himself falling in love with head dominatrix Lisa.
High-priced call girl Lee Churchill, is examining her life via therapy "sessions". Her double life is unknown to her parents, sister and "straight" man with whom she falls in love.
This docu-drama dives beneath the sensational headlines to unravel the truth about a murder case that rocked New Zealand and catapulted teenage dominatrix Renee Chignell and cricket umpire Peter Plumley Walker into the national consciousness.
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.
Based in the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Olalla" tells the story of a gothic and decadent family of genetic vampires who need human blood to survive, and where incest is the only way to maintain the family line.
Flamboyantly gay Austrian television reporter Bruno stirs up trouble with unsuspecting guests and large crowds through brutally frank interviews and painfully hilarious public displays of homosexuality.
A grieving heart surgeon struggling with the loss of his wife drifts through an emotionally detached life while raising his teenage daughter. His chance encounter with a dominatrix awakens feelings he thought were gone, drawing him into a dark and unconventional world where pain and desire intertwine.
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!
After losing both her parents, young Sylvie is enrolled in a strict boarding school of Victorian English education. The school readily and willingly resorts to a very strict regime of correction and corporal punishment to discipline its female pupils and the young girls compensate for the rigors of their education by devoting themselves to all kinds of kinky schoolgirl sexual encounters.
Jack is an internet gambler living in NYC. After the death of his roommate, he becomes fixated on Scarlet - a cam girl from San Francisco. His obsession reaches a boiling point when fantasy materializes in reality and Jack sees Scarlet on a rainy NYC Chinatown street.
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.
A woman falls victim to a dominant mafia boss, who imprisons her and gives her one year to fall in love with him.
Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.
Alberta, a mousy young woman with the survival skills of a snail, loses cash that isn't hers, so she runs from her small town to Seattle where her old babysitter, Celene, lives - a dominatrix with a classy apartment and a life plan. She lets Alberta stay. Alberta gets a job as a checker at a supermarket and becomes fascinated with Celene's work.
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.