If there’s one thing that we all learn from a pretty early age is that sex sells. It’s used to sell every item under the sun on billboards and advertising, as well as fill the pages in the magazines we read, to the shows we watch, and of course the films we go to.

There are films that aren’t just sexy, but also include sex scenes, although not all of them are as notorious as 1972’s The Last Tango in Paris and its use of a certain dairy product.

This film from Lithuania examines the notion of sex, but from a very unique angle.

Working as a dance teacher is Elena (Greta Grineviciute). She starts teaching a group of deaf youngsters, who are accompanied by sign language interpreter Dovydas (Kestutis Cicenas).

He takes a shine to her instantly, and asks her out, and she says yes.

It’s not long into their relationship that he tells her something about himself, that he is asexual. Elena isn’t entirely sure what it means, having to even Google it, but as the pair get closer, his sexual orientation soon begins to frustrate them both.

This then is only the second feature from Lithuanian director Marija Kavtaradzė. It is a love story that is complicated by one of its character’s lack of interest in the act of sex itself. In doing so it explores the nature of love, and the importance of sex for many within it, especially as an affirmation of that love. So what happens when one half just isn’t into it?

The director cleverly uses a number of techniques at her disposal, by way of the script, that allows her to express emotions non verbally, and they are through dance and sign. This gives both characters within the relationship an outlet that they both have a handle on, to express how they feel, where words seemingly let them down.

Considering how sex is so often used in film, Kavtaradzė’s treatment of it is fascinating. And what it does, initially at least, is shows the importance of simple pleasures such as touch and intimacy, that can so often set the tone for any relationship.

It’s a film that delves into the complex nature of relationships, as its characters try desperately to find common ground. Do the couple find some kind of resolution? You’ll have to watch and find out; just don’t go expecting a ‘happy ending’.