Film Review: Gabriella Do Baya – XXXX – Anal Sex Over the Town
A sensual meditation on identity, repression, and the power of memory
By: The Cinephile Current
Few films released this year are as enigmatic, polarizing, or visually daring as Gabriella Do Baya – XXXX – Anal Sex Over the Town, the latest experimental work from French provocateur Pierre Woodman. Known primarily for his unapologetically bold vision, Woodman turns the lens inward this time, crafting a haunting fever dream that dances on the edge of reality, fantasy, and the ghost of desire.
Set in a crumbling coastal town in southern Europe—a place left behind by time and untouched by modernization—the film follows the introspective journey of Gabriella (played by the fiercely magnetic Gabriella Do Baya), a woman caught in the labyrinth of her past, haunted by love, abandonment, and the whispers of a town that never lets go.
This is not a traditional film by any measure. While the provocative original title stirred controversy and curiosity alike, Anal Sex Over the Town is not so much about literal sexuality as it is about the metaphorical entanglements of intimacy—intellectual, emotional, and yes, physical—within a society on the brink of collapse.
Visit Woodman Casting X and watch this scene!
A Study in Atmosphere
From its opening shot—a wide aerial view of the decaying seaside village bathed in blue dusk—Woodman announces his intention to immerse us in atmosphere before narrative. The town itself feels like a character, its cracked walls and empty piazzas murmuring secrets to those willing to listen. Cinematographer Luc Delacroix (a long-time collaborator of Woodman) captures it all with painterly precision, blending the washed-out palette of neo-realism with sudden bursts of saturated color, often aligning with Gabriella’s emotional states.
This symbolic use of color is a recurring motif: red when she remembers passion, blue during despair, yellow when glimpses of hope shine through. There are echoes here of Antonioni and Tarkovsky—directors who understood that images often speak louder than words, and that narrative can be a mosaic rather than a straight line.
- Gabriella Do Baya (Woodman Casting X)
- Kristina Grace (Woodman Casting X)
- Liz Ocean – XXXX – WSG 37 (Woodman Casting X)
The Enigma of Gabriella
Gabriella Do Baya delivers a mesmerizing performance as a woman both shattered and resilient. Her Gabriella is not easily defined. She wanders the narrow alleyways of the town, visits her childhood home, and sifts through old photographs and faded letters, her expressions oscillating between longing and fury.
In one striking sequence, Gabriella stands at the edge of a cliff as the wind howls around her, her silhouette framed by the setting sun. She speaks a monologue—half in Portuguese, half in French—that touches on memory, guilt, and the body as a repository of secrets. Do Baya’s command of silence is just as powerful as her dialogue, often communicating more with a glance or breath than most actors do in pages of script.
Woodman’s choice to cast a Brazilian actress as the emotional core of a film about dislocation and cultural tension is no accident. Gabriella represents the outsider, the foreigner, the woman viewed with suspicion by the townsfolk. Yet it is through her that we see the cracks in the town’s facade—and perhaps in Europe’s own relationship with its colonial past.
Tony Tiger: The Phantom of the Past
Opposite Do Baya, French-Italian actor Tony Tiger plays Laurent, a former lover whose presence in Gabriella’s life remains ambiguous. Is he real? A ghost? A memory? Tiger brings a dreamlike stillness to his scenes, often appearing and disappearing without warning, his eyes filled with a mix of longing and regret.
Their shared scenes are electric not for their eroticism, but for their quiet intensity. In one standout sequence, they sit across from each other in a dimly lit café, barely speaking, as a slow tango plays on an old radio. Their conversation is minimal, but the emotional subtext is rich: years of love, loss, and unspoken words all hanging in the air like cigarette smoke.
XXXX: The Language of Censorship and Mystery
The film’s cryptic subtitle, “XXXX,” has drawn many interpretations. Is it a censorship marker, a nod to adult themes, or a metaphor for erased memories and unnamed traumas? Woodman has refused to clarify, which seems intentional. The “XXXX” becomes a placeholder for everything the characters cannot say—whether due to societal pressure, emotional repression, or the limits of language itself.
In one of the film’s most daring sequences, Gabriella visits the town’s shuttered theater, where old reels of banned films are still stored in the basement. She unspools one and watches a fragmented montage of images—some explicit, others abstract—while reciting lines from Anaïs Nin’s House of Incest. The effect is hypnotic and unsettling, reinforcing the idea that desire is not always sexual—it can be the desire to be understood, remembered, or forgiven.
Sound and Silence
The sound design in Anal Sex Over the Town is another standout element. Composer Étienne Morrel’s score mixes minimal piano melodies with ambient field recordings: footsteps on cobblestones, the cry of gulls, whispers behind doors. Often, entire scenes play out in near-silence, encouraging the audience to lean in and listen—not just to the sounds, but to the spaces between them.
This approach mirrors the film’s thematic exploration of what is left unsaid. Silence becomes a form of communication, of resistance, of survival. It’s also where the film draws some of its most haunting power.
Legacy and Controversy
Pierre Woodman’s transition from the provocative fringes of cinema to a more introspective, art-house style has not been without critics. Some accuse the film of being self-indulgent or overly symbolic. Others have dismissed its pace as glacial. But to those who engage with it on its own terms, Gabriella Do Baya – XXXX – Anal Sex Over the Town reveals itself as a profound exploration of alienation, femininity, and the ghosts that inhabit our quietest moments.
It’s no coincidence that many have compared it to Last Year at Marienbad, The Spirit of the Beehive, or even Under the Skin. Like those films, Woodman’s latest defies easy classification. It is an experience more than a story—a poetic excavation of the self, viewed through the cracked lens of a forgotten place.
Final Thoughts
Gabriella Do Baya – XXXX – Anal Sex Over the Town is not for everyone. It asks for patience, reflection, and a willingness to embrace ambiguity. But for those who surrender to its rhythms and trust its vision, the film offers a haunting meditation on intimacy, memory, and the quiet violence of time.
Gabriella Do Baya emerges as a major talent to watch—an actress capable of bearing the weight of complex, emotionally dense material with grace and ferocity. And as for Pierre Woodman, he may have just redefined himself as a filmmaker unafraid to confront the shadows—both within and around us.
Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
Best enjoyed with: A quiet evening, headphones, and an open mind.