For fans of HBO's The Deuce, get ready to once again go back in time with yet another MAX offering albeit import, of a drama that takes place during the early days of sex, sleaze and scandals! In X-Rated Queen *Originally titled-"Lady Love” the story goes back to the
80s timeline where adult entertainment has gained further traction thanks to the VHS market, however all is not a bed of roses, as there is a mystery angle involved opening more than just legs!
Anna Szymanczyk headlines this Polish period piece drama as Lucyna a young woman who through fate and unfortunate circumstances escapes from her native Poland to West Germany. After struggling to get by, and a few incidents, she sees her calling as "Lucy Love" a major actress within the European porn industry but as with the Queen of Porn’s accolades and fame, comes very dark scenarios that can destroy your average person, but the question remains, will it break her?
At the start of the first episode, it’s 1996 Lucyna is being accused of murder and is interrogated with the Detective dropping photos of skeletal remains in front of her.
There's also a fist clenching scene where her 20-year-old heroin addict daughter is getting gangbanged and afterwards overdosed. These events help to set up the narrative tone as Lucyna along with her former associates are being questioned by the police about the occurring flashback sequences, are no stranger to those familiar with True Detective, another MAX series.
Part of the flashbacks aside from Lucyna's rise to fame, during the previous two episodes involves some whirlwind “romance" between our naughty protagonist and Pornographer Klaus who looks like Frank Zappa, but is infatuated with Lucyna as both are free spirited he feels destined to have her as a soul mate yet further in, it is mentioned that she sucked his soul among other things. *ahem* The premise feels like there were snippets taken from the experiences from real life hardcore sex actors, especially in regard to abuse be it marital abuse or sexual abuse the latter involving a Nun because let's face it, most Nuns and Priests have urges to the extent that they would commit abhorrent atrocities like molestation. The vow of celibacy is a joke as with Catholicism. But allow me to digress.
Actress Szymanczyk looks like a natural beauty without the superficial appearance of a model let alone a porno star and she's very convincing during certain scenes this limited series for the most part is dark with disturbing moments that becomes this character study of that all too familiar trope where someone who started off innocent is transformed into a monster. X Rated Queen in some ways feels like a Eurotrash Boogie Nights that plays it straight by heavily relying on scripted or as far as the acting goes, unscripted drama but it's not as bad as most critics made it out to be. It's more like flash over flesh, than substance due to provocative elements. Sex sells, and so does sensation call it a “Pump and Circumstances!”
Overall, this Lifetime-esque series is your archetypal deconstruction of an Ill-fated character as told via scenarios and comfortably embraces the melodramatic tropes and trappings of some docudrama despite the narratives being fictional. is at times inconsistent, flashy and grim yet it may keep those further invested just to see how this story unfolds.
🍑🍑 and a half, out of Five!
