GIRLS TO BUY – Review

The lurid title and poster for GIRLS TO BUY, a mostly-subtitled Polish dramatic film, are rather misleading. This tale about sex workers is less erotic than suspenseful, playing out a lot closer to a SCARFACE than to an EYES WIDE SHUT. The screen is filled with attractive women in alluring attire but there’s relatively little sex and nudity, compared to what one might expect from the subject being explored.

For those still interested, the action begins in 1999. Our protagonist, Emi (Paulina Galazka), wants to break into the high-end escort business, rather than spend her life like her mom – running a small drab shop in a small drab village. She finds a mentor with a gorgeous daughter already in the biz and hits the ground running.

Emi may look like a naive country girl but her brains and ambition take her quickly to the playgrounds of the rich and jaded around Europe’s luxury venues, and beyond. She recruits plenty of women with similar ambitions and becomes a major provider of specialized entertainment. Dorota (Katarzyna Figura), the maternal figure who enabled Emi’s ascent, starts resenting her protege’s higher level of success, becoming more of a problem than a colleague. The customers who pay lavishly for their pleasures gradually grow more demanding and less kind to the ladies.

The women are gorgeous, as are the sets and scenery, as we watch them party hard on luxury yachts or in posh hotels and incredible mansions. The trade appears glamorous and lucrative for most of the film before turning darker. Paulina Galazka has the looks and emotional range for major stardom.

Had the story remained light and playful, it could have been titled HOW I MET MY MADAM. But it’s based on a compilation of the real experiences of Eastern European sex workers, and the 2018 novel “Girls from Dubai” by Piotr Krysiak, showing both the appeal and downside of that realm of employment, ultimately more depressing than titillating. Since the message is mainly a warning to young women lured to the appearance of glamour in the trade, the credits start with some alarming stats about sex work and trafficking. Overall, it’s a strong, compelling film, once you’ve adjusted your expectations to eye candy in a serious drama rather than soft-core porn.

GIRLS TO BUY, mostly in Polish with English subtitles, opens Friday, July 15 in select theaters and video on demand.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars