Lies

Y, an 18-year-old high school senior, begins exchanging messages with J, a 38-year-old sculptor. She is drawn in by the sound of his voice during their phone conversations. She arranges to meet him so she can take control of her first sexual encounter on her own terms. The uneasy electricity between them marks the start of a troubling, intense relationship.

They meet at a love hotel and have sex as soon as they enter the room. The session sets the tone for their future encounters, blending secrecy, desire, and risk. Y seeks to reclaim agency in her sexuality. This marks the start of a dangerous, addictive dynamic.

In their next tryst, J confesses an interest in sadomasochism, and Y consents to participate. He beats her on her buttocks before they have sex again. This moment reveals the power dynamic that will drive their early relationship.

Over time they continue regular trysts with increasing intensity, using a wide variety of implements. At first Y goes along to please J, but she gradually begins to enjoy being beaten. The relationship becomes less about romance and more about ritualized domination and submission.

J visits his wife in Paris, and their relationship deteriorates as he begs his wife to beat him. She refuses, revealing that his sexual desires have strained their marriage for years. The visit exposes the broader cost of these fantasies on other relationships.

After an unusually intense beating, Y becomes angry and J offers to let her beat him. She accepts, and the couple begins to take turns beating each other. This marks a shift from a one-sided dynamic to mutual dominance.

Y's brother discovers the affair and retaliates by setting fire to J's house. The incident forces the lovers to confront the consequences of their secret life and pushes them further into hiding. Their world narrows to a cycle of hotels and distance from family.

Y cuts her hair and drops out of university; J leaves home. They spend the remainder of their relationship living in hotels, having sex every night, and carving tattoos onto their inner thighs, forsaking work and conventional society. Their bond becomes an all-consuming escape from normal life.

Y's brother dies in a motorcycle accident. Soon after, J runs out of money, and Y leaves him despite his pleas. The loss and economic pressure push their turbulent relationship toward an end of its own kind.

J moves to Paris to live with his wife, attempting to rebuild his life apart from Y. The separation marks a break in their pattern of constant contact and dependence, though memories linger between them.

Years later, J receives a call from Y, who is stopping over in Paris on her way to South America. They meet one last time in a hotel, where she dons her old school uniform and beats him with the handle of a pickaxe, fulfilling a fantasy he once expressed. The moment is charged with history and unresolved longing.

After the final encounter, they never see each other again. When J's wife asks where he got the tattoo, he lies to keep the past from intruding into the present. The lie seals the emotional distance between him and both women in his life.