Chelsea's pair of dark shades looks perfect with her hip-hugging skirt and sleek top. The pink of her lip-gloss glistens the way her silkily straight hair shines. Not only is she sexy and beautiful, she is refined and graceful. Look how she listens, talks, chews her food. She would be the perfect girlfriend for anyone. And for anyone willing to pay, she is.

Chelsea (who sometimes goes by Christine) is the high-end NYC escort in Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, the story of a classy prostitute who offers the city's most moneyed individuals both physical pleasure and intimacy (or pretensions thereof). Soderbergh has dealt with the subject of sex before, most notably in his explosive and in-your-face Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), but this time he takes a slower, more methodical approach and in doing so fashions something even more sensual. Opting for a non-intrusive and surveillance style of filming, he intimately guides us through Chelsea's meetings with her various clients (e.g. bankers and screenwriters) in New York’s most exclusive restaurants and hotels. Playing with our voyeuristic instincts, he shows us the things Chelsea does with her clients-- eating, drinking, kissing, undressing, etc –while never showing us everything. He casts the delectable Sasha Grey as the leading lady but keeps us waiting for the steaminess that never comes.

It is hard not to feel like we are being teased, but the truth is, The Girlfriend Experience never intends to deal with just sex. By highlighting the social backdrop against which the narrative is set, Soderbergh makes it clear he is not as interested in the physical and slippery (as in SLV) as he is in portraying a certain zeitgeist. The film which was shot about a month before the 2008 U.S. Presidential election effectively reflects this period of upheaval characterized by both hopes for a new political reality and by the fear of impending financial crisis. The characters in the film mirror this reality and are shown to be at their most politics- and money-obsessed. Chelsea's clients talk about voting and rant about the failing economy, and are often so preoccupied with these things that their meetings with her lack any apparent romance. Chelsea herself endlessly hustles for more business, arranging for website upgrades and meeting with people who offer to help her with improving her business. Her live-in boyfriend, the personal fitness trainer Chris (Chris Santos) is similarly engaged in the relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar. These two elements (money and sex) of course become intertwined in ill-fated ways, when Chelsea offers sex to an online reviewer (played by film critic Glenn Kenny) in return for a positive review, only to be betrayed in the end.

Soderbergh coldly gazes into these people's transient interactions--almost always transactions of some sort, with each individual on the look out for his best interests (with the exception of Chelsea and Chris' relationship, which presumably is founded on love). Elsewhere this lack of nuance or character development would be a shortcoming, but in The Girlfriend Experience the homogeneity and flatness of its characters in terms of their superficiality, materialism and selfishness appropriately underscores Soderbergh's critical attitude towards today's monolithic, capitalist world. Indeed, the sense of irony can be found in Soderbergh's portrayal of Manhattan itself. He shows it to be glossy, shoots at its most lavish locations, chooses comely lighting and enticing décor, but the city's glamour literally dissolves into mere, blurry images when he shows it reflected in the cities doorways, store fronts and limousine windows. Soderbergh seems to be expressing consternation that all these symbols of wealth will one day crumble. At the same time, he also suggests that if we look beyond surfaces that seem alluring--not only those of the city, but implicitly also the likes of Chelsea--we may find there is less than meets the eye.

This may sound like Soderbergh is busy making a series of weighty and astute observations, but don’t be misled to think The Girlfriend Experience is heavy-handed or grave; instead it's wry, sometimes absurd, and always riveting. Its fluid nature and elliptical finale also ensure that the film can be read in a myriad of ways. Do allow yourself to be seduced by this enticing, yet thought-provoking film--it's worth it.