Main cast: Nick Mancuso (George Rain), Ilona Utriainen (Anaïs), and Terence Stamp (The Host)
Director: Darrell Wasyk
Anaïs is another episode about a married bloke led astray by a woman while he’s on a business trip. Gee, I’m seeing a pattern here.
George Rain isn’t a bad sort. He intends to bring his wife Helen to Montreal, where he is now, so that they can both enjoy the place together.
Only, his eyes are caught by an attractive woman sketching in a park, and she ignores his efforts to ask her for directions. Naturally, her haughty dismissive attitude only puts him into full blown horny horn mode. What she may mean to be “Get away from me, you intrusive American!” is, in his eyes, a sign of instant connection.
Oh, he suddenly realizes that his marriage isn’t so much fun anymore. This woman, whom he hasn’t spoken even a word with, and he understand one another like no one ever could!
Soon, he’s taking up art himself, making impeccable oil paintings of the woman simply in just a few seconds like artists always do in these shows.
In his head, she’s Anaïs and she walks into his hotel room in lingerie that bears her you know what for unholy fun at her body shop. It’s not long before his wife’s phone calls become an annoying interruption in his personal ongoing steamy head show with the woman of his dreams.
Sadly, the woman in real name has a tough guy beau that doesn’t it like when this stranger starts making overtures at her. Oh wait, that tough guy is not her beau, it’s her ex that is harassing her. Clearly, she needs George to rescue her from that ex! Again, no words are exchanged, but our guy knows all of these somehow. It’s that instant connection that they have, you know.
Not that things are what they seem at first in this episode. I have to hand it to the people behind this one: while this is hardly a scary or suspenseful episode, it’s an intriguing look into the heads of people that are engaged in an adulterous love affair. The anger, the jealousy, the resentment, the guilt… they manifest in a dark, stormy, and interesting manner that only the French bent on creating arty soft porn can do.
Of course, there are issues. The first half of the episode is hokey and corny, and things become interesting only in the later half.
Even then, there is some nicely done steamy scene of George getting all dominate-y over Anaïs. As usual, Ilona Utriainen is entirely nude except for a piece of sheer lace over her head and the pieces of fabric tying her down to the bed, while Nick Mancuso has all his clothes on, but this contrast between the clothed man and the nude submissive woman only reinforce the eroticism of the imagery and acts in that particular scene.
Plus, I never knew Mr Mancuso can play the lead actor of a Fifty Shades of Grey knockoff until now, and oh my, he does it very well.
Anaïs is hardly a groundbreaking episode, and I would hesitate to even call it a good one. I’m not sure how good an episode it is as an anthology episode, but it’s certainly a superior The Red Shoe Diaries episode!
