Bound is a 2015 erotic thriller film by The Asylum that is a Mockbuster of the Fifty Shades of Grey film. Charisma Carpenter is Michelle Mulan, daughter of a wealthy real estate broker played by Daniel Baldwin, and a divorced mother of a teenage daughter. She meets Ryan Black (Bryce Draper) who seems to have a sinister control over her that she can't resist. When her life starts falling apart due to her obsession with him and BDSM
, she decides that she needs to take control of her life.
No relation to the 1996 film of the same name.
This film provides examples of:
- Bondage Is Bad: This seems to be implied by Black's behavior, but it turns out that he's an outlier, an abuser who uses BDSM as an excuse.
- Chained to a Bed: Happens to Dara, Michelle's daughter, who's apparently been seeing Ryan on the side.
- Dogged Nice Guy: George (Mark McClain Wilson), Michelle's boyfriend, is deeply in love with her, but Michelle is unsatisfied with the relationship. She even goes as far as to end it with George and blatantly tells him that she's seeing someone else (Ryan).
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: In one scene Ryan slaps Michelle's ass. When Michelle asks to slap him, he tells her to get out.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Before Michelle turns Ryan over to the police for raping her underage daughter, Michelle chains Ryan up in his private dungeon and binds him, turning him into her submissive.
- Likes Older Women: Ryan is 15 years younger than Michelle who is around her forties.
- Mockbuster: To Fifty Shades of Grey
- Mr. Fanservice: Bryce Draper fulfills this role through numerous shirtless scenes.
- Ms. Fanservice: Michelle is shown topless at length, with the camera focusing on her rather large breasts during sex and abuse under cover of BDSM roleplaying.
- Necktie Leash: At the end of the film, Michelle to Jessie to indicate the change in terms of who is in charge.
- Professionals Do It on Desks: Ryan convinces Michelle to have sex with him on her father's desk. It works on a few different levels. First, it emphasizes his control over her by getting her to push past her boundaries. Secondly, he's using an extended "daddy" metaphor where he tells her that she's submissive because she always wanted to please her father, but that he's her father now.
- Safe, Sane, and Consensual: Partway through the film, when Michelle shows up at the bondage club on her own, one of the dominatrices schools her on how BDSM requires full trust and willingness from both parties, and that what Ryan does is just being a violent abuser.
- Safe Word: Despite having just been introduced to the concept, and no mention of safewords in the dialog, Michelle knows that the way to stop Ryan in the alley is by repeatedly saying "Red".
- True Blue Femininity: Michelle is often wearing a blue dress.
