Bree Mills

S1 E1 : A Delicate Vice w/ Kenna James & Cherie DeVille
The film opens with a shot or the city lit up at night. We see Cherie step out on the curb as Kenna watches from her car. Kenna is seen smoking and thinking about putting Polaroids up on the wall next to her bed. A car pulls up and Cherie gets in. When it pulls away we get a title screen.
Later on Cherie gets into the backseat of Kenna's car and they drive. Cherie counts money as Kenna throws her cig out the window. Cherie looks worried in the backseat her eyes searching for the right words but she stays silent.
Cut to Kenna alone in her bed holding one of her prized polaroids while masturbating stripped down to nothing but her underwear. We see it's a picture of Kenna and Cherie brushing lips about to kiss or in the middle of it.
There is a moment where we watch Cherie putting on black stockings. The music that has played the whole movie turns off suddenly and the car comes to a stop. Cherie informs Kenna that this one will be an hour and she gets out. Kenna doesn't respond. The music comes back only playing softly.
Later that night Kenna lays Cherie down on her bed and begins to kiss her neck, moving lower to her already bared breasts before kissing her mouth. Kenna slides a finger in slowly. Cherie arches her back in pleasure as Kenna pumps her with a single digit. The couple lock eyes and Kenna bites her lip.
Back on the street again and Cherie is getting in the back of the car another time. She tells Kenna that she doesn't have to do this if it's upsetting but Kenna says she does it to keep her safe. When they reach the destination Cherie exits before coming around to the window to say it'll be 30 minutes. Kenna looks away holding in whatever she's thinking.
Again we see a moment where the couple are kissing in Kenna's room. Back and forth we go from the recesses of Kenna's mind and Cherie's wordless interactions with her male client. In the memory or dream of what will happen later Kenna sucks Cherie's tits and then Cherie goes down on her knees where she removes Kenna's pants and sucks her pussy. Kenna breathes hard and they kiss again mostly in shadow.
Cherie is shown as frustrated and there is a shot of the two lovers on the bed.
Kenna lights up again as Cherie finishes a transaction we in the alleyway. When Cherie has returned to Kenna's backseat she starts to look longingly and somewhat forlornly at her her lover. She asks Kenna to take her back to her place. At first Kenna refuses to do so while she's working - but Cherie says please and asks her not to make her beg, whispering it into her ear.
Back at Kenna's Cherie pulls a picture off the wall and considers it. Kenna approaches , turning her over on her back and kisses her lips long and passionately for the first time of the night. When their lips come apart they don't speak. Clothes come off of Kenna and she helps Cherie with her dress from behind. She cups Cherie's chest with gloved hands. Kenna whispers about her favorite photo and how she touches herself thinking of Cherie. Kenna reaches down the front of Cherie's panties and rubs her before flipping her around and getting rid of the dress in a fast motion.
Cherie is down to just her black panties when Kenna starts to kiss her body and lick her breasts. Cherie says she doesn't want to be teased and eggs Kenna on. Cherie's panties come off. Kenna eats Cherie at last they are both breathing hard. Cherie asks for fingers too and Kenna obliges still wearing her fingerless driving gloves. She works her fingers inside and sucks clit at the same time. Cherie asks for more and says please. She laughs when she comes and tells Kenna she's so good.
Now Cherie wants a turn on Kenna and has to coax her out of her jeans by calling her baby. Kenna's jeans are pulled down and Cherie gets both holes from behind. Cherie goes to whisper in Kenna's ear. Kenna says that Cherie always makes her happy as she grabs her neck and pumps her with her fingers. Cherie is teasing Kenna with the photos she's now staring at on the wall as she comes.
Kenna turns around and Cherie moves to take her jeans the rest of the way off and helps with the first of Kenna's boots. Kenna wants to look into Cherie's eyes but Cherie is resistant and just wants to focus on getting Kenna naked. Cherie starts to cry softly. Kenna ties to pull her close and tells her that she loves her. She asks her why she thinks Kenna waits for her and protects her. The declaration is to much and Cherie wants to pull away saying something about having to go. Kenna has her head in her hands and is on the verge of crying herself saying that Cherie never has to go again. Cherie begs to just stop taking about it. She just needs her body now.
Kenna is obviously pained but relents and allows Cherie to busy herself by kissing her way down between her legs to suck her sex. Cherie puts her whole mouth on pussy and eats Kenna breathing into her.
They kiss again and Cherie mounts Kenna simultaneously shushing her. Cherie grinds Kenna's thigh in her lap. They kiss hard as the grind speed increases.
Cherie is laid down on her back and Kenna gets on top to trib her thigh. Kenna puts a hand on Cherie's throat squeezing lightly. The camera drifts out and back on due a close look as Kenna grinds and adds her fingers at the same time to please her lover. Kenna humps harder and harder and Cherie begs her to fuck her. Kenna uses her hand to make Cherie come and yell loudly. The sound echos in the small empty room.
Kenna lays back and is topped in a 69. Kenna grips ass and eats pussy with gusto so that soon all Cherie can do is writhe and moan atop her.
Cherie dismounts and rubs Kenna's vagina with an open hand. The camera gets a good shot here and Kenna comes quickly gasping for air.
The Polaroid camera is picked up next to the bed and Kenna snaps a photo or Cherie posing on all fours. They kiss and Cherie calls Kenna ridiculous as she gets off the bed and walks away. Kenna lights a cigarette and shakes her fresh photo. Her smile has faded and she's back in her head thinking.
Out on the street Kenna picks up a phone and Cherie tells her to come get her in 10 minutes. When Cherie is in the car again neither looks happy. Cherie hands Kenna a scrap of paper saying it's a new one and Kenna reads it saying it's for the warehouse district a neighborhood that Cherie knows Kenna hates. Kenna wants to know why Cherie is doing this anyway - Kenna told her that she'd help her. Cherie snaps back about the photos and Kenna says that Cherie can't run from herself forever. Cherie replies that she isn't running, she's being driven. Kenna puts the car in drive and repeats her vow to keep Cherie safe.
When they pull up to a graffitied warehouse the client approaches and takes Cherie inside. Kenna is busy thinking of loving Cherie again alone in her room. They lock eyes while grinding and kissing.
Back in the present Kenna is pissed off and steps out of her ride to smoke and kick up some dirt. She is remembering the night before when she tried to speak to Cherie about why she has to leave. Cherie isn't going to listen and slaps Kenna on the face to put a point on it.
Kenna waits in the car when Cherie runs up gets inside sobbing and tells Kenna to drive through her tears. Kenna wants to know what happened but Cherie won't say. Kenna gets out of the car and goes around to the trunk. Inside there are only two things. A spare pack of smokes and a tire iron. Kenna grabs the iron and strides off to the building where Cherie's client is peeing. She comes up behind him and whacks him while thinking of the woman she loves. When Kenna is back in the driver's seat Cherie asks her half crying what she did. Kenna says calmly that she's keeping her safe.
We don't see Kenna's face here until the credits roll and the camera is looking at the two from the dashboard again. Kenna's face is splattered with blood and Cherie clutches the weapon that her protector has discarded into the backseat...
There is a lot to unpack here though I'll start with the expected stuff ( the actual sex scene ). Which altogether was only about half of the total 49 minute runtime. ( if you don't count the little cut ins with only a few seconds of Kenna' thinking about Cherie ).
Aesthetically the sex was shot much different than in typical Girlsway fashion too. It was in its own way a kind of nod to sex scenes you might see in a more conventional film where darker lighting and close ups on kissing mean you don't get near as much tongue to pussy contact or other penetration shots.
That isn't to say that there weren't pluses to the style . With so much attention being focused on the couple the emphasis on eye contact has never seemed more important in a porn film to me. The kissing and staring was affecting because both Kenna and Cherie were deep in character.
My favorite part of the action was definitely the tribbing with Kenna on top. Again the eye contact was a simmering thing and you could feel both women's pent up frustration with each other and their circumstance.
This commitment to character is where A Delicate Vice shines its brightest. I know the era depicted is all 80's - but I was really taken with this feeling that recalls 1974's cult classic Taxi Driver when I watched this all play out ; its more than the obvious driving around the city at night. It's about the kind of human struggle that Kenna's character is going through. She's stuck mostly in her head as an observer who is sad but fixated on a woman she thinks she loves. Cherie meanwhile is pulling a sort of double duty in this comparison as both the love interest and the sex worker that our protagonist Kenna thinks she needs to save from the hard world. Kenna doesn't say much but instead seethes privately about how she can't get through to Cherie , the only person she seems to care about. There is a kind of violence there waiting in Kenna and we see it spill forward in the bloody conclusion.
Cherie meanwhile does her best to get at the kind of personal conflict of her character. She is sure of herself until love is mentioned and then she pulls away in tears not wanting to talk about it. Why she refuses to fully accept Kenna's love is not explained but she clearly wants to be independent. Her outburst at Kenna shortly before the climax shows that she also has a possibly violent edge to her but when confronted by her client and whatever he has done she cracks and runs back to Kenna. Girlsway fans probably remember Cherie's emotional performance in Project Pandora. At the time it was the only real reference point I had for a crying scene in lesbian porn. This example was perhaps quieter in some respects but it carried more resonance because of the story and attention to close ups.
I have been anticipating what Girlcore would bring for months and I have to say that it has already exceeded my expectations. It really feels like a step further for Bree Mills as a creator and a director. I know she has always tried to push past what porn is 'supposed to be' and this definitely succeeds at that.
Girlsway features always feel like special projects to all involved and it's really great how you can see the performers really putting their hearts into the character portrayals. Perhaps these hour long episodes are a greater vehicle to show an actresses chops , even when compared to my favorite series - because the limited space means characters must be fully realized rather than fine tuned over multiple scenes. I guess I'll have to test that hypothesis over the remaining episodes. Overall a great start to Girlcore!
96/100
Following my review of episode six I will include my customary final thoughts - but in the interest in getting the reviews out as soon as I can I'll be posting the write ups one at a time.