Bound

Corky, an ex-convict doing renovation work in an apartment building, and Violet, the mobster's girlfriend next door, decide to steal two million dollars and pin it on him. It is the Wachowskis' first film, and some critics have called it a test run for The Matrix. Studios were willing to make it on one condition: Corky becomes a man. The Wachowskis refused, saying that movie had been made a million times already. Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly took the parts. Sex educator Susie Bright consulted on the intimate scenes and has a brief cameo. Critics rated the result among the best lesbian sex scenes in a mainstream film to that point. It was made for 6 million dollars and grossed 7 million. Bill Pope shot it, the visual references included Frank Miller's comics, and the storytelling model was Billy Wilder's approach to noir. It won the GLAAD Media Award in 1997 and became a cult film over time. Who it is for: viewers who like tight-space noir and genre being bent from inside. Who it is not for: anyone put off by violence. The film is stylish and also very bloody.