The most common criticism aimed at the concept of ‘safe spaces’ is that they are a creation of, and for, weak and cowardly people, who want to avoid confrontation.
This could not be further from the truth. To demand a safe space for oneself, and to enter one as oneself, requires strength and courage: the courage of honesty with oneself and others, the courage of vulnerability, of letting go of ingrained fears and norms. It can turn out to be a confrontation with one’s deepest longings and uncertainties.
In Swiss filmmaker Sarah Horst’s documentary, three different women, in different locations and speaking different languages, create, enter or explore their safe spaces. In all cases it has to do with their experience of sexuality, and in all cases its meaning extends far beyond it. Their stories touch upon asexuality, desirability, disability, traumatic histories and the areas where pleasure and pain overlap.
And while we’re talking about the courage needed to be open and honest to yourself – what about having a documentary crew present while you are exploring your limits, your desires, your shame? When you are telling your partner about your BDSM desires, not knowing how they will react? Telling your parents about your journey of sexual self-discovery and when they stay silent asking them, on camera, whether the subject is making them uncomfortable? Or asking your partner if they ever resented your lack of sexual drive in your relationship?
Usually, one hallmark of safe spaces is not allowing any cameras, as the possibility of being filmed or photographed can very reasonably prevent people from exploring non-normative sexual behaviour, which is so often judged harshly by the outside world; one never knows where these images might end up.
But in Safe Spaces, the camera is welcomed into spaces where nudity, sexuality and different forms of power play are explored, and into the intimacy of boundary-testing conversations – which, so often, feel even more vulnerable than undressing.
All participants – the three women, their partners and loved ones, and the others present at workshops for example – deserve recognition for the courage with which they have welcomed us into their midst; not knowing at which festivals or streaming services these images might end up.
That is strength. Which means that, whatever they’re looking for, they have already found something within themselves which most people will probably never possess.
In other words, we are not looking at weak persons and certainly not at people to pity. Quite the opposite: we are looking at daring individuals, from whom we can draw inspiration.
My one serious criticism of the film is that the three different stories do not really fit together enough. For that, these women’s situations, although related in their general theme of troubled sexualities, are too different. And because their stories remain mostly separate, there is a lack of continuity every time we switch from one protagonist to another – which is tiresome and makes the film seem longer than it is.
One woman has minimal sex drive but finds fulfilment in being a BDSM dom; another is unsure about her sexuality and trying out different approaches with a teacher; a third is exploring her sexuality as someone with physical disabilities. There is some more specific narrative overlap, especially in the areas of BDSM and the acceptance of a possible lack of lust, but not enough to have one story truly inform and enlighten another.
All three stories are interesting in themselves though, and I noticed that each time the film cut from one protagonist to another, I would have preferred to stay and learn more. This was true for all three women, each of whom could have been the subject of her own feature-length film. Which I believe would probably have been better.
Switzerland, 2026, 104 minutes
Director Sarah Horst
Production Milan Film
Producers Cyrill Gerber
International sales Cyrill Gerber
Script Sarah Horst
Cinematography Ramón Giger
Editing Myriam Rachmuth
Sound design Oscar van Hoogevest
Sound Oscar van Hoogevest
Music Mirjam Skal
With Shadow, Alexandra, Patricia Nodual
