Sanctuary centers around power struggles and roleplaying in this stinging and loquacious psychological drama centering around a dominatrix and her wealthy client. Directed by Zachary Wigon and written by Micah Bloomberg, both have seemingly crafted a piece of cinema that could’ve quickly been produced as a play but easily justifies its cinematic existence with their hypnotic visuals, enthralling performances that bitingly play into one another, and an unforgettable musical score that is also a love letter to the great musical beats from Paul Thomas Anderson’s classic film Punch Drunk Love. Sanctuary is also riddled with surprises. The film begins with Abbott’s Hal returning to his hotel penthouse and Margaret Qualley’s Rebecca there to interview and question him, and the dynamic between them is not immediately apparent. Soon you realize this is all part of a roleplaying exercise between the pair, and things are ready to spiral out of control.

Soon you recognize the incredibly high stakes at hand. Initially, a game of seduction turns into a reciprocal romantic activity on the bitter cross-section of authoritarianism, trust, wits, and the inability to execute closure. Watching Sanctuary, the film grows tighter and more twisted as it goes along, as we learn how far they’re willing to go for the demands that they seek from one another. Abbott’s character comes from a robust and influential family. Still, he’s so damaged from his upbringing that the embarrassment of being outed for his strange ways is equally pleasurable as unthinkable.

Soon the film frames the picture to ruin a man for his compulsions and fetishes or have Qually’s Rebecca take advantage of the situation, possibly turning this into a new job opportunity when the film’s fundamental power dynamics come into play. It’s a gripping experience that doesn’t follow traditional narrative tropes. The performances are daring, chaotic and memorable, and I haven’t seen such a new turn from a new filmmaker of this genre since Cory Finley’s Thoroughbreds in 2018. Sanctuary is destined for cult status and features one of the most unforgettable sequences Qualley’s Rebecca dances gleefully to Bonnie Pointer’s “Heaven Must Have Sent You as the film, and Hal’s world descends to madness. I could not be more thrilled to see what comes next for Zachary Wigon. [A-]