AllMovie

Alexa Wolf directed this politically charged documentary about pornography in Sweden, which focuses on its human impact on both audiences who view it and the actors who appear in it. Wolf's contention is that actors in hardcore porn films are, in essence, prostitutes, and that most women involved participate in the films against their will, suggesting the producers are guilty of rape. Shocking Truth features a number of explicit excerpts from Swedish porn films that depict violent or humiliating sexual situations, as well as interviews with the actors involved in the films; the performers, however, were not interviewed by Wolf herself, but as part of a Swedish cable television show devoted to showing hardcore films, leaving open the question whether the actors and actresses were answering "in character," or expressing their true feelings. Wolf's film also generated controversy in Sweden for the appearance of Lisa Nelson, a college student doing research on pornography, whom some writers suggested was actually an actress playing a role created by Wolf in order to support her own opinions on the issue. Shocking Truth received its American premiere at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival.