It's curious, even ironic, how this French film has sparked such a heated controversy due to its violence and explicit sex. It seems as though no one has noticed that, unlike many films, this one doesn't glorify violence at all; it simply shows what becomes inevitable in the idiosyncrasies of its two protagonists. Both Nadine (Karen Lancaume AKA Karen Bach) and Manu (Raffaella Anderson) suffer daily cruelty as sex workers, prostitutes, and part-time porn artists. The gang rape of Manu and her drug-addicted friend depicted here is completely different from the clichéd "they'll end up liking it" rape scene found in most adult films. While one of them screams and resists, the other adopts a facade of indifferent resignation, cleverly robbing her rapists of the sadistic thrill. The scene goes on much longer than anyone would like, and it's hard to watch, but it's part of the film's leitmotif.
When Manu and Nadine meet and embark on their violent road trip, knowing they won't be able to get away with it in the end (Thelma & Louis), sex becomes a source of liberation for them. Like so many fugitives in any buddy-crime movie, they take what they want, whenever and however they want, naturally discarding (not always violently) their casual partners after a shag. One of the most common accusations in the porn world is that explicit sex scenes dehumanize those who perform them, but in this case, nothing could be further from the truth.
Former hardcore actresses Lancaume and Anderson are magnificent in their roles, and the sex they share (real sex, of course) enhances their characters, making them more complete. The "cinema vérité" rawness of the digital video format in which it was shot, interrupted by sudden flashes of style when violence erupts (an artistic choice to give the viewer a sense of the power and pleasure the women derive from their actions as an escape from their monotonous lives), draws the viewer uncomfortably close to the action. Again, that seems to be the goal.