''Paris, France'' is a 1993 Canadian

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed by

Jerry Ciccoritti Jerry Ciccoritti (born August 5, 1956) is a Canadian director. Biography Ciccoritti co-produced, co-wrote, and directed the low-budget horror film '' Psycho Girls'' (1985). Several other genre films followed, eventually leading to work in e ...

and written by

Tom Walmsley Tom Walmsley (December 13, 1948 - April 17, 2025) was a Canadian playwright, novelist, poet and screenwriter.United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Premise

Lucy (

Leslie Hope Leslie Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series '' 24'' and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on ''Suits''. Other credits include '' Shadow Builder'' (1998), ''Murdoch Mysteries'', ''The ...

), her husband Michael (Victor Ertmanis), and their business partner William (

Dan Lett Daniel Frederick Lett (born April 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He has acted in films, theatre and television. His principal roles have been in the series ''F/X'', ''The X-Files'', ''E.N.G.'', ''Street Legal (Canadian TV series), Street Legal'', ...

) are the owners of a small publishing company in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The stability of their lives are thrown into an emotional maelstrom with the arrival of Sloan (

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the The CW, CW action series ''Nikita (TV series), Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the The Movie Network, TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Han ...

), a former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

-turned-writer whose first book (based on a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

) is about to be published by their company. Sloan gets in over his head when he embarks on a steamy affair with the sexually ravenous and frustrated Lucy, who longs to re-create her S&M-filled days in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

gone by. In addition to her job as publisher, Lucy is also an erotic novelist exploring whether a weekend of sexual passion with Sloan can liberate her from

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

. But the

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

Sloan soon embarks on another affair of his own with the openly gay William which leads to sexual confusion for the writer. All in the while, Lucy's befuddled husband, Michael, slowly goes crazy over learning of his wife and business partner's dalliance with his client until he decides to join in on their bed-jumping as well.

Cast

as Lucy *

as Sloan * Victor Ertmanis as Michael *

as William *

Raoul Trujillo Raoul Max Trujillo (born May 8, 1955) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer and theatre director. A former soloist with the Nikolais Dance Theatre, he is the original choreographer and co-director for the American Indian Dance Theatre. Hi ...

as Minter * Patricia Ciccoritti as Voice of Lucy's mother

Reviews

The film was reviewed by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', and described as "a silly farce with few amusing moments and many more boring ones". The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' noted that "the film goes as far as a non-pornographic film can go in depicting sexuality" but "Eventually you catch on that the film isn't really making fun of itself so much as making fun of the audience for watching."

MPAA rating

''Paris, France'' is rated NC-17 because of explicit sexual content.

Awards

The film was nominated for two

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

s: * Best Achievement in Cinematography: Barry Stone * Best Achievement in Film Editing: Roushell Goldstein

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, France (film) 1993 independent films 1993 films 1993 comedy-drama films 1990s sex comedy-drama films Canadian sex comedy-drama films Canadian LGBTQ-related films 1990s English-language films Films about male bisexuality English-language Canadian films Films based on Canadian novels Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto Canadian independent films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films 1993 LGBTQ-related films Films directed by Jerry Ciccoritti BDSM in films 1990s Canadian films English-language independent films English-language sex comedy-drama films LGBTQ-related independent films