Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Girlfriend Experience

Play trailer Poster for The Girlfriend Experience R 2009 1h 17m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 138 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Chelsea (Sasha Grey) is an in-demand call girl whose $2,000 an hour price tag allows her to live in New York's lap of luxury. Besides her beauty and sexual skill, Chelsea offers her clients companionship and conversation, or, as she dubs it, "the girlfriend experience." With her successful business and a devoted, live-in boyfriend, Chelsea thinks she has it made... until a new client rocks her world.
The Girlfriend Experience

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Steven Soderbergh's latest lo-fi production is strikingly crafted but emotionally vague.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Melissa Anderson Film Comment Magazine Mar 28, 2018
Documenting the way we speak now, however, doesn't compensate for the film's own hollow rhetoric; TGE's tricked-out, fractured narrative merely distracts from its dead-end cynicism. Go to Full Review
Christy Lemire Associated Press Oct 1, 2014
We also find ourselves wondering about the real Chelsea, but Grey plays her as such a chic, chameleonlike enigma, she remains beyond our grasp. It's all part of the game: enticing but frustrating, the ultimate tease. Go to Full Review
Mark Jenkins NPR Oct 1, 2014
The Girlfriend Experience proves that a visually striking film can be made on the fly. But grab-and-run is a more fruitful strategy for images than scripts. Go to Full Review
Jas Keimig The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Dec 8, 2021
In her first mainstream picture, adult film star Sasha Grey is appropriately enigmatic and alluring, if not a little stiff. Go to Full Review
David Walsh World Socialist Web Site Feb 13, 2021
Bringing bits and pieces of this unpleasant, narcissistic universe to life in The Girlfriend Experience, for example, is not a satisfying substitute for explaining why such a social existence came into being and why it fell apart. Go to Full Review
Ellie Lucas From the Front Row Aug 5, 2019
2.5/4
An intriguing if strangely empty glimpse inside a seemingly glamorous world, Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Huntin P @PaxVobiscum80 5 days ago Pornstars who try to go mainstream usually end up in tacky horror movies or gross-out comedies. The ones that find their way into, what should one say, indie arthouse fare (?) tend to expose the chronic lack of talent that got them into hardcore, rather than into Hollywood, in the first place. GFE is no exception to the rule. This movie is even worse than The Canyons, for example. I remember a time when some people seemed to think it cool to say they 'liked' or were 'following' Sasha Grey on social media. For heaven's sake, why, I wondered. In this movie she plays just about the dullest, most un-convivial escort anyone could imagine; the absolute last person you'd want to spend $1000 a night to date. What was Soderbergh thinking? Beats me. If you want to see an indie drama about a sex worker, I recommend Claire Dolan (1998). See more thiago s @Thiagostone Jun 18, 2025 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas de são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Mike K @Mike63 Apr 10, 2025 Extreme soft porn with a story or two hung on it. Could do way better with your laptop. Men are stupid pigs and troubled children, women are smart... but really they are all c#*%s. Go figure. Another scene into the depravity and greed in the neurotic, sociopathic society we are ruled by. Huzza!! See more John A @ExcessMale Feb 3, 2025 Fairly well-acted (including Sasha Grey). This film feels more like a slightly experimental project testing the capabilities of early RED cameras instead of a driven flourish of Soderbergh's. See more david f @dfulmer Aug 14, 2019 It tries a little too hard to have a message but it is of-the-moment, contemporary, thoughtful and experimental. See more Jun 28, 2018 Slow, boring, uninteresting. Should be called a day in the life. Who cares See more Read all reviews
The Girlfriend Experience

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING
Shrink 27% 50% Shrink Watchlist The Burning Plain 38% 56% The Burning Plain Watchlist The Stone Angel 46% 58% The Stone Angel Watchlist The Babysitters 35% 30% The Babysitters Watchlist For Colored Girls 31% 73% For Colored Girls Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Chelsea (Sasha Grey) is an in-demand call girl whose $2,000 an hour price tag allows her to live in New York's lap of luxury. Besides her beauty and sexual skill, Chelsea offers her clients companionship and conversation, or, as she dubs it, "the girlfriend experience." With her successful business and a devoted, live-in boyfriend, Chelsea thinks she has it made... until a new client rocks her world.
Director
Steven Soderbergh
Producer
Gregory Jacobs
Screenwriter
David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Production Co
Extension 765, 2929 Entertainment
Rating
R (Nudity|Language|Sexual Content)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 22, 2009, Limited
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 16, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA)
$695.4K
Runtime
1h 17m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings