AllMovie

One man's sexual obsessions and emotional weaknesses are laid bare in this controversial drama. Jay (Mark Rylance) is a cold, emotionally distant man who abandoned his wife and children several years ago andnow works in a nightclub. Jay enters into an affair with a married woman, an amateur actress named Claire (Kerry Fox), in which their emotional needs barely enter the picture; they meet once a week and have sex, talking as little as possible and parting ways once they're done. One week, Jay follows Claire after their weekly encounter and sees her meeting her husband Andy (Timothy Spall), a cheerful and good-natured cab driver. Jay becomes curious about Andy and strikes up an acquaintance with him; as they become friendly, Jay begins sharing with Andy the details of his affair with a married woman, without mentioning his lover's name. Claire has already begun moving away from her affair with Jay, and when she discovers that he's been meeting with her husband and sharing information about their relationship, she becomes understandably furious. Intimacy was the first English-language film for French director Patrice Chereau; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.