‘Unfolding’: Adult Empire Porn Movie of the Year 2019
Unfolding is a love affair in every imaginable sense, one that tells a compelling story that goes beyond the bewitching Selena Kitt tale that forms its plot.
It shows Cherie DeVille‘s range as an actor, it demonstrates that director Kay Brandt is no one-hit wonder, and it is proof that Adult Empire audiences love a good romance. Debuting quite appropriately on February 14, Unfolding soon hit the top VOD ranking, holding it for 26 weeks throughout 2019. Few movies before or since have had such staying power.
Unfolding is a story of sexual discovery, viewed from the perspective of a seemingly normal couple, played by Cherie DeVille (Charlie) and Seth Gamble. They’re a well-established duo by the time the story opens, enjoying a pleasurable — if unadventurous — sex life. One day, they find themselves pushing boundaries with something Charlie hasn’t experienced before: anal sex. It cracks open a door that will be flung wide open by the movie’s end. DeVille and Gamble depart on a weekend getaway that soon reveals itself to be a swingers’ party. At first, Charlie simply watches as Small Hands, India Summer, and Codey Steele enjoy a tasty tryst. It’s not long before Charlie’s own sexual unfolding, including anal and group sex, is fully underway.
DeVille’s greatest coup is capturing a sense of tentative sexuality that is decidedly opposite to DeVille’s own sexual assuredness. A resourceful actor, she was able to find common ground with the character. “I can relate to her willingness to experiment with her sexuality being tied to and facilitated by her deep feeling of safety and security in her loving relationship. I feel like the small family that is pornography in the USA has as a whole made me feel safe in doing things joyfully on film I would be to nervous to do otherwise so I can relate to the need to feel secure to fully express your sexual self,” DeVille told Adult Empire in 2019.
The chemistry with Gamble, another essential element, came easily. “That’s not acting! He’s an awesome person and if you have met him you will know chemistry with him is effortless,” DeVille joked.
Unfolding also showed that Kay Brandt was not content to rest on her laurels after the sterling success of her Babysitting the Baumgartners. That movie, also adapted from the work of Selena Kitt, experienced durable popularity in Adult Empire’s rankings. That kind of success is hard to replicate in a market as mercurial as pornography, but Unfolding was evidence of Brandt’s creative mettle. Unfolding benefits greatly from her assured adaptation and attentive directing. It’s likely no coincidence that some of Cherie DeVille’s most memorable performances have come in Kay Brandt movies.
The movie also demonstrated that porn audiences look for more than just nudity and hardcore action. Director Kay Brandt was not surprised by the movie’s ability to touch audiences, including men, who comprised a majority of the movie’s AE sales. “I think ultimately, although it’s not talked about in the light of day, that men want the same thing that women want. Men have feelings, too,” she told Adult Empire. Added DeVille, “The plot and the fantastically realistic characters as well as the beautiful love story that Charlie and her husband have! You can be sexually adventurous and committed and in love! That seems way more realistic to me than 99% of adult film plots. To me this movie is like you are looking at someone’s real life not a outrageous fantasy.”
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