Review of Sexual Encounter Group

A bunch of attractive young people get together in a sexual encounter group in a mansion on a hill so they can explore each other's bodies and shed their carnal inhibitions. Alex de Renzy's off the cuff documentary offers an interesting depiction of pop psychology as well as the loosening permissive mores and anything-goes experimental mindset that were key defining components of the early 70's sexual revolution. What really makes this documentary so charming is the way that it presents sex in a pure, healthy, and honest manner that's utterly bereft of moral judgment or any suggestion that what the group are doing is remotely dirty or sinful in any way. This in turn means that the scenes of people touching and smelling each other possess a surprising and refreshing innocence that gives the climatic group sex which occurs at the end a significant erotic impact because it's shown in an extremely pleasant and non-prurient context. Done in a stark and unadorned verite style, it's well worth a watch for aficionados of 70's adult cinema fare.