Irina Palm

Maggie needs money urgently. Her grandson is seriously ill in hospital, and the medication that could save his life is way beyond what his parents can afford. She will have to come up with an idea soon if she is to give her son and daughter-in-law fresh hope. Desperate, Maggie, a middle-class Lon - doner in her mid-fifties, finds herself responding to a temptingly lucrative job offer at a sex club. At "Sexy World", the shy but sprightly widow meets the club’s charming manager, Miki, who gently introduces her to her tasks as a "hostess". Her new colleague, Luisa, acquaints her with the rules of the game and, before long, the conscientious Maggie becomes the much sought after and well-paid "Irina Palm". Along with the cash, Maggie gains renewed self-confidence, realising that she’s not as old, unattractive and useless as she had believed herself to be. But then it transpires that Soho, where she renders her sexually hygienic services, is not a million miles away from the conservative suburb where Maggie lives, and her clandestine exist ence begins to raise the suspicions of both her son and her inquisitive neighbours alike. But even when everything comes to light, Maggie refuses to let this get her down…

Source: 57. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)