Shortbus

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2:25

Shortbus

2006

1h 42m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

126 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

John Cameron Mitchell's SHORTBUS explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex in and around a modern-day underground salon. A sex therapist who has never had an orgasm, a dominatrix who is unable to connect, a gay couple who are deciding whether to open up their relationship, and the people who weave in and out of their lives, all converge on a weekly gathering called Shortbus: a mad nexus of art, music, politics, and polysexual carnality. Set in a post-9/11, Bush-exhausted New York City, SHORTBUS tells its story with sexual frankness, suggesting new ways to reconcile questions of the mind, pleasures of the flesh, and imperatives of the heart.

Critics Consensus

The sex may be explicit, but Mitchell integrates it into the characters' lives and serves the whole story up with a generous dose of sweetness and wit.

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Mark Bourne

Film.com

03/04/2008

Shortbus is not, above all, 'dirty.' What it is, in fact, is a nice movie, one of the nicest to come down the pike since March of the Penguins.

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Stella Papamichael

BBC.com

11/30/2006

2/5

Everything comes to a head in a touchy-feely climax (if you catch our drift) where, ironically, it isn't the strong sex but all the singing and handholding that's the real turn-off.

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Anna Smith

Empire Magazine

11/29/2006

3/5

A gleefully subversive but over-simplistic rude little indie that's starting to gain cult status.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

02/15/2023

3.5/4

What makes Shortbus unusual for an American movie is that it isn't frightened of sex, it doesn't reduce the act to insensitive frat boy gyrations, and it doesn't employ it as a bludgeoning weapon.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

02/11/2022

It’s a disarmingly sweet movie about dysfunctionality and connection.

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Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

02/07/2022

A

the film is just as bold and startling as when it first came out maybe more so, because we have become more puritanical when it comes to depicting sexual situations onscreen, even in indie films.

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Carlos I

@carlosFibarra Jan 16

John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus is a remarkably raw dissection of various modern relationships, peeling back layers of sexual and emotional inhibition with a frankness rarely seen in cinema. While the film is occasionally hampered by bouts of wooden acting from its non-professional cast, the performances paradoxically contribute to an atmosphere that feels unfiltered and authentic. By navigating the intersections of love, loneliness, and art within its titular underground salon, the movie manages to be both explicit and deeply tender, proving that vulnerability is often found in the most unpolished moments.

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Dan J

@RT19335362 10/06/2024

I’ve always been rather self conscious of being tall thin avg guy with avg appendage- but SHORTBUS made me realize everyone has something they don’t like about themselves and now I have a “fuck em’ if they can’t like me for myself!” Great movie.

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Courtney K

@c0urtn3y 06/03/2024

for as much as this revolves around sex, I actually didn't think it came off as a sleazy exploitation in-the-name-of-art type film like I was sort of expecting. there's enough substance to it. that being said, was it great? also not really, lol.

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Georgan G

@RT98616417 08/04/2023

Nice to see human sexuality as part of the larger plot, from a whole individual, to all other combinations of love & sensuality. Some will see this as shocking, while others embrace the openness portrayed here.

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Jens B

@Jens97 11/13/2022

The real Sex and the City. Oh, and this has one of the greatest opening sequences of all time.

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william d

@acsdoug 03/24/2021

Various people indulging in, and doing a great deal of navel-gazing about, sex. Maybe you'll find that more interesting than I did.

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Shortbus: Trailer 1

2:25

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Synopsis

John Cameron Mitchell's SHORTBUS explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex in and around a modern-day underground salon. A sex therapist who has never had an orgasm, a dominatrix who is unable to connect, a gay couple who are deciding whether to open up their relationship, and the people who weave in and out of their lives, all converge on a weekly gathering called Shortbus: a mad nexus of art, music, politics, and polysexual carnality. Set in a post-9/11, Bush-exhausted New York City, SHORTBUS tells its story with sexual frankness, suggesting new ways to reconcile questions of the mind, pleasures of the flesh, and imperatives of the heart.

Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Producer: Howard Gertler, John Cameron Mitchell, Tim Perell
Screenwriter: John Cameron Mitchell, John Cameron Mitchell
Production Co: Q Television, Process Film, THINKFilm, Fortissimo Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 6, 2006, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 26, 2022
Release Date (DVD): Mar 13, 2007
Runtime: 1h 42m