Movie: Secretary

Secretary is a sort of lite SM story of love, acceptance and self-discovery. The acting by James Spader and (especially) Maggie Gyllenhaal is exceptional, and the movie does a surprisingly good job of combining dark comedy and sexual tension with heartfelt self-realization.

Said the New York Times reviewer back in 2002 when the movie was released:

I prefer to see ''Secretary'' as a wacky new-wave romantic comedy in which two lonely people locked inside their private fantasies discover a miraculous erotic harmony. In today's post-Freudian, do-your-own-thing era of free sexual expression, the movie stands to be a wholesome self-help fable about the unlocking of shame and its magical transformation into pleasure and personal liberation. So what if its vision is finally too good to be true? 

Yeah, that's about right.

Highly recommended. It's well worth the time on Netflix.