Back home

Student Services

137 votes

Producing House

Nineteen-year-old Laura is stressed by her first year at college when money worries distract her from her studies and so, desperate for cash, she answers an online advertisement for intimate companionship that leads her down a dangerous path.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 2010-01-18

Runtime: 101 mins

Director: Emmanuelle Bercot

Spoken language: Français, Italiano

Genres: Drama

Original title: Student Services

Production Companies: Les Films du Kiosque

Production Countries: France

Reviews

m

merenabe
I generally enjoyed this film - based on the 'true/shocking' revelations of a (French) female university student who turned to the world's oldest profession to help finance her way thru school. It is, perhaps, the 'expose' angle of the movie that slants the general tenor of the piece towards a negative vibe - as the viewer is introduced to the story's lead character, Laura, and follows her down a path of personal denigration as she barters her youthful body for some spending cash & millennial trinkets. The 'shock value' of the source book from which the screenplay was derived is based on the (purported) 'epidemic' levels of prostitution engaged in by female college students to make ends meet - so it is not surprising that the director has seemingly gone out of their way to make sure that the sexual 'pay for play' activities of the film's star are not made to look 'enjoyable'. In this, at least, they have managed to succeed! The lead actress, Deborah Francois, IS lovely - in just the right way to provide a vulnerable heroine for the sordid tale... and she sure doesn't appear to like what she's doing in the sexual realm - so much so - that after a while I found the plot to become rather disingenuous and dis-engaging. Despite many scenes where Ms Francois fully reveals her attractive body and participates in sexual congress with a variety of sorta 'flawed' male individuals - there is nothing arousing about any of it. Could the girl be any more 'bored' & repulsed?! It really makes one wonder why her one repeat customer 'Joe' keeps coming back for more... or why she sticks it out for as long as she does. Without treading into the politically/morally dicey territory surrounding the whole issue of prostitution - I felt that this film presents a sort of mono-dimensional and moralistic take on the situation. Some reviewers compare 'Student Services' to the likes of "Pretty Woman" and extol its' virtues for presenting a more 'realistic' portrayal of the disagreeable aspects of prostitution - personally I might suggest that a more relevant comparison could be to the cable TV series "Diary of A Call Girl" based on the 'true' adventures of London escort (AND student!) Belle de Jour. 'Belle' also exhibits a 'conflicted' character in trying to reconcile the two sides of her life in the face of society's general disdain for sex workers - but she, at least, takes 'some' pleasure in her craft, and on occasion even finds her sexual skills to be of 'service' in helping individuals overcome personal problems. Admittedly, the 'clients' that Laura encounters in "Student Services" are portrayed as a particularly loutish lot - but 'where's the love'?! Ultimately I began to sympathize w/ her self loathing and sorta lost interest in the 'story' - such as it was. There are obviously 'bigger issues' of youth poverty and socioeconomic inequality at play - but none of them get meaningfully addressed/answered in this film. On a strictly prurient level - worth a look for the fetching form of Ms Francois in the buff - but nothing to get too excited about.
2015-03-25

Recommendations

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
3.2

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

1995-12-01

Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.

The Straight Story
3.9

The Straight Story

1999-10-15

A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle

Short Sharp Shock
3.3

Short Sharp Shock

1998-10-15

Gabriel, Bobby and Costa are old friends from Altona, a multicultural hood in Hamburg. Just out of p

8½
4.1

1963-02-14

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by

Maria Full of Grace
3.6

Maria Full of Grace

2004-01-18

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her fami

Caché
3.5

Caché

2005-10-05

George, host of a television show focusing on literature, receives videos shot on the sly that featu

Distant Lights
3.7

Distant Lights

2003-02-11

Lichter is an episodic tale from Hans-Christian Schmid about the life on the border between Germany

Leaving Las Vegas
3.6

Leaving Las Vegas

1995-10-27

Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arri

A Beautiful Mind
3.9

A Beautiful Mind

2001-12-14

From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. A

Bend It Like Beckham
3.1

Bend It Like Beckham

2002-04-11

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized so

36 Fillette
2.5

36 Fillette

1988-03-03

Lili, a pouty and voluptuous 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in Biarritz. She's self

The Hole
3.1

The Hole

2001-04-20

Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed under

My Own Private Idaho
3.5

My Own Private Idaho

1991-02-01

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcol

Brute
2.9

Brute

1997-11-07

Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but als

Monsoon Wedding
3.4

Monsoon Wedding

2001-08-30

As the romantic monsoon rains loom, the extended Verma family reunites from around the globe for a l

7 Virgins
3

7 Virgins

2005-10-14

Tano is 16-years-old and is already sitting in jail. In 48 hours he’s a free man and off to the wedd

Ghetto-Kids
4

Ghetto-Kids

2002-07-04

Two trouble-causing brothers, who in the second generation after World War II Germany live, are in t

The Green Mile
4.3

The Green Mile

1999-12-10

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses

Cléo from 5 to 7
3.9

Cléo from 5 to 7

1962-04-11

Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set ad

Monster
3.6

Monster

2003-12-24

An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes