Year: 1980
Runtime: 95 mins
Language: English
Director: Matthew Chapman
The film asks how much sex is enough as Beaty, a prostitute, and Emory, a lighting‑and‑sound technician, fall in love while working at a London cabaret. Their passionate bond is strained by the demands of their jobs, jealousy and the blurred line between performance and personal life, making their relationship anything but easy.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Hussy (1980), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Beaty Simons, Helen Mirren, works as a prostitute at a London cabaret, and Emory Cole, John Shea, is the sound and lighting technician who becomes entangled in her world. Their affair blooms under the glitz of the cabaret, even as Beaty’s line of work casts a long shadow over their chances of a normal life. Emory carries a heavy unease about Beaty’s past and the life she leads, while Beaty herself wrestles with the responsibility of her young son and the fear of what leaving everything behind might do to him.
Two figures from their histories arrive, pulling the pair into a dangerous convergence. Max, Murray Salem, is Emory’s urbane, outspoken friend who pushes him toward a drug deal, bringing a taste of danger and excess into their fragile arrangement. Beaty’s former lover and perhaps her pimp, Alex Denham, Paul Angelis, is a brute whose presence unsettles Beaty and threatens the fragile trust she’s built with Emory. Alex is quiet and raging, a stark contrast to Max’s sharpness and style, and Beaty’s resistance to rekindling anything with Alex only fuels his volatile temper. Yet Alex agrees to join the caper, thinking it’s gun smuggling, as the trio contends with loyalty, fear, and the tangled motives that bind them.
On the day of the caper, the uneasy alliance fractures in a tense car ride. Max taunts Alex until the tension breaks and Alex shoots Max dead, leaving Emory and Alex to dispose of the body. The aftermath reveals a chilling truth: Alex is aware of Emory’s plan to take Beaty and her son away and he seems prepared to do whatever it takes to secure his hold. He hands Emory a stash of cash found on Max’s body and urges him to use it to keep everyone safe, even as the grim reality settles in that the future may depend on violence and separation rather than escape.
When Emory and Beaty finally reunite, Beaty’s resolve wavers. She refuses to flee the country immediately, torn by the fear of uprooting her child and the stubborn pull of a past she isn’t sure she can sever. Yet the promise of a fresh start glimmers in the proceeds from the night’s grim work, offering a route to a life free from the men who stalk them. The final scenes pull the trio toward a last-ditch bid for freedom: Emory, Beaty, and her child race to catch a plane, eyes fixed on a future liberated from the weight of their entwined histories.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:43
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Passionate relationships forged and tested in dangerous, marginal worlds.Discover movies similar to Hussy, featuring intense workplace romances set against a backdrop of crime and desperation. If you liked the passionate yet strained love story within the London cabaret scene, you'll find more films here about relationships tested by dangerous jobs and moral ambiguity.
Stories in this thread follow characters who find passionate connection in oppressive, often illicit, environments. Their love becomes a form of escapism, but the external pressures of crime, exploitation, or survival create intense jealousy, danger, and moral conflict, forcing the characters to navigate a treacherous path between their personal bond and professional demands.
These movies are grouped together because they share a specific blend of high-stakes romance and a gritty, often dark, atmosphere. The central tension arises from the collision of intimate human connection with a dangerous, corrupting world, leading to heavy emotional weight and typically ambiguous or bittersweet outcomes.
Characters risk everything for a chance at freedom from oppressive circumstances.Find films similar to Hussy that explore themes of escapism from oppressive lives. If you were captivated by the characters' frantic race for freedom from the London cabaret world, this list features other gritty dramas about high-stakes getaways, moral compromises, and ambiguous new beginnings.
The narrative pattern involves characters who are deeply enmeshed in a damaging situation—be it prostitution, crime, or a toxic environment—and pin their hopes on a single, dangerous plan for escape. The journey is fraught with tension, betrayal, and sacrifice, often culminating in an ambiguous ending that questions whether true freedom is ever attainable.
These films share a core thematic focus on escapism as a desperate, last-ditch effort. They create a cohesive vibe through their oppressive atmospheres, high emotional stakes, and a pacing that swings between deliberate buildup and frantic, tense action, all leading to an emotionally heavy and frequently uncertain conclusion.
Don't stop at just watching — explore Hussy in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Hussy is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.
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