With her feature length writing and directing debut, The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed, writer/director/star Joanna Arnow takes a cue from the sometimes cringe-inducing black humor of Lena Dunham. Arnow plays Ann, a millennial woman in a BDSM relationship with an older Dom named Allen (Scott Cohen).

As Ann, Arnow gives the type of unabashed performance that is rare in the sanitized cinema of today. Most modern actors/actresses are more concerned with celebrity than actual character immersion and today’s screenwriters aren’t interested in realistic portrayals of human sexuality. Going all in on her character’s sexual submission and carnal adventures, Arnow is completely free with every inch of her body, giving a performance of stark and welcome realism. Ann’s need for extreme sexual degradation is the crutch she uses to balance out her banal life and unsatisfying corporate job and the actress knows how important it is to experience the submissive tasks she is (wantingly) forced to do.

The film is played out in chapters, each one named after her sexual partner(s) of the moment, becoming a collage of Ann’s BDSM experiences. Arnow’s depictions of sex are not meant to erotic. These are smart, candid, no-nonsense observations with a comedic edge. The best “joke” being how most of the Doms she sees are rather inept at playing the role. One guy forces her to wear a slutty outfit while referring to her as “Fuck Pig” as he verbally degrads her and (rather comically) the Women’s Rights movement. Ann is unimpressed. As none of these men cannot seem to find the right balance of Dom and “regular Joe”, Ann can never achieve a completeness in meeting her version of an “ideal” partner.

Becoming bored with her Dom/sub relationships, Ann hits the regular dating scene and meets Chris (Babak Tafti), a sweet and kind man whose normalcy captures her interest. An authentic romance (perhaps Ann’s first) begins to bloom.

The film’s deadpan aura works, even if certain moments find Arnow trying a bit too hard to capture the malaise that has infected Ann’s life. This is a film of rhythms and Arnow’s direction guides the audience along, putting us in tune to her unique vibe. The director keeps things mellow, where many first time filmmakers go the other way. Arnow doesn’t need loaded backstory or big emotional reveals to tell Ann’s tale. We get to know the character through the patient vignettes the screenplay unfolds. This is a smartly designed work.

Ann’s “plight” speaks to many millennials who are fighting to have their own voice heard in a world still under the clutches of the “Boomer” generation. This has been the problem for every younger generation and Ann’s is no different.

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed shouldn’t need to be labeled as daring, but unfortunately, women are rarely afforded the cinematic opportunity to show themselves as realistic sexual beings. Arnow’s work finds a kinship to certain aspects of Judith Rossner’s 1975 novel, Looking For Mr. Goodbar, in the way Ann only feels free when diving into her sexual proclivities, even if they are sometimes dangerous to her psyche.