"Most refreshingly, WORKING GIRLS earnestly but also playfuly takes the stigma off the oldest profession, Borden shows stimulating rapport among the girls, albeit their manifold colorations, uncouth or soft-spoken, frigid or wide-eyed, they might not be each other's best friends after hours, but internecine competition is nonexistent among them whereas sisterhood prevails and they do not stint on camaraderie. It is also awkwardly funny when Molly has to hide her sapphic predilection from a new girl in a girl-on-girl show, who is mortally averse to lesbianism. Indeed, it is through those small vignettes Borden excellently gives us a capsule view of the sign of its times: homophobia, racism (a black girl cannot earn as much as her pale-skinned coworkers, even a black customer is prone to stiff a girl of his own race, the humiliation feels lacerating),and most stirringly, the male chauvinism that is the canker incubates our society's inveterate inequity, and also the unique connection between a prostitute and her clients, it doesn't necessarily be exclusively carnal, interpersonal communication burgeons among human beings every nook and cranny. Borden's overarching critique is on point, totally honest and prescient."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.

A day in the life of a woman who is a prostitute in a brothel-a very high class brothel. Nothing really happens--her and the other girls sit around and talk and serve clients. The movie does not glamorize prostitution. It shows it as a grueling, painful and demoralizing job. The script is sharp and on-target and most of the performances are good. Not great film, but well-made.

Molly (a fine and credible performance by Louise Smith) works as a prostitute at a fancy Manhattan bordello that's run in a strict manner by the tough, yet super polite and proper madam Lucy (an excellent portrayal by Ellen McElduff).

This film benefits tremendously from the spot-on matter-of-fact nonjudgmental attitude that director/co-writer Lizzie Borden and co-writer Sandra Kay bring to the admittedly seamy subject matter: Prostitution is neither glamourized nor sensationalized; instead it's shown as just another job with its own kind of drudgery that's ultimately all about the benjamins and serving men's fantasies while still finding time for lunch breaks and keeping their personal lives at home. Better still, the more thankless aspects of the profession such as disposing of used condoms and making sure the clients are clean are addressed with refreshing candor while the sex workers are drawn with a winning blend of humor and humanity. Moreover, it's really well acted by a rock-solid cast of unknown actors and actresses: Amanda Goodwin as the brash Dawn, Marusia Zach as the sweet Gina, Helen Nicholas as naive new girl Mary, Janne Peters as the classy, but weary April, Carla-Maria Sorey as the elegant Debbie, Frederick Neumann as the kinky Fantasy Fred, and Richard Leacock as well-mannered BDSM enthusiast Joseph. An unjustly neglected 80's indie sleeper.