This was interesting and artful. I'm glad I watched it, but it could have been better in several ways.
Composer Malorie, struggling with writer's block and financial difficulties, prostitutes herself to several men and a woman. More than just paying the bills, these experiences raise her awareness of the colors, sounds, textures, and people of New York City, unblocking the creative process and allowing her to find her own musical voice.
Portions of this movie are so beautifully filmed that we can easily believe that these other sensations can remove her mental block. A difficulty arises for the next step, though: it's quite likely impossible to show on objective film how subjective experiences are synthesized into a creation, and in Her Composition, this process just doesn't get us there. Like Malorie's professor, I wanted to see intermediate progress that was, if not wholly rational, at least more substantive. When insight occurs such that 95 percent of the work gets done in 5 percent of the time, it's hard to believe. Maybe that's how creativity operates, I don't know, but I felt left out of the experience at this point.
Other parts of the movie are not so beautifully filmed, with excess use of too-close closeups, out-of-focus views, and random subject matter. These strongly detracted, particularly in the early minutes before we'd had a chance to develop some empathy for the main character. And, at least as packaged for streaming on VUDU, the dialog was occasionally drowned out by background. Initially, Malorie's voice was so wispy it seemed forced, but this improved later in the film (I doubt this was scripted.)
On the plus side, the acting was excellent all around. Also, Her Composition is one of those uncommon films where copious nudity and sexual activity make sense in terms of plot and theme. Watching this, my sense of immersion in the action was never interrupted by phony attempts at modesty. And in terms of what was asked of the cast, there was greater gender parity than is typical.
Some clarity of the plot set-up would have helped. Malorie gets her list of high-rolling johns (and a jane) from an NGO that is setting up a sting to assist the FBI. It wasn't clear what crime other than prostitution was going on, why an NGO was involved, nor why only the clients were targeted and not the women, and especially, why it was a federal matter rather than local. I was left guessing, which was unnecessary as about three more lines of dialog might have explained it all. Perhaps, with New Jersey and Connecticut close, the johns were the ones running the show, and operating across state lines? Trafficking minors or the unwilling seems an unlikely explanation in the world of high-price ($1,500/hr) call girls. This uncertainty was distracting.
Overall, though, this was 90 minutes that will keep your attention and engage your senses.
