Before the Wachowski Brothers tackled the Matrix trilogy, they tried their hand at a lesbian action thriller, Bound … and they did it pretty damn well!

Part of the neo-noir cycle of the 1990s, which featured such contemporary classics as Pulp Fiction (1994), Se7en (1995) and L.A. Confidential (1997), in many ways Bound is a fairly standard thriller, involving set-ups, double-crosses, and a suitcase full of cash. But the twist that raises Bound above other entries in this genre, aside from the fact it marks the Wachowskis making their razor-sharp directorial debut, is the fact that the leads are two women who fall in love with one another. Two very sexy women: Jennifer Tilley (she of the cute, husky voice) as a mobster’s girlfriend, Violet; and Gina Gershon (she of the notorious Showgirls fame) as Corkey, an ex-con turned handywoman.

Refreshingly, their intensifying romance is presented without a fanfare announcing that this film features -  shock! horror! - a Lesbian Love Affair ™.

It would be easy to say that Bound simply panders to straight male fantasies, but there’s much more to it than that. It’s one of the only times that a same-sex affair has been at the heart of a tightly-paced action thriller without any angst or soul-searching or coy cutaways.

Dramatically, Bound is bold, edgy and sexy; and it dives straight into the action. Tilley and Gershon don’t hold back, especially when it comes to their sex scenes, oft-voted as the best lesbian sex scenes on screen – and this from a major Hollywood film!

Bound set the benchmark for independently-made lesbian features, showing that they can be much more that domestic stories about women discussing their feelings for each other – not that there’s anything wrong with that!