Ashford Manor 2

Budding debutantes Annabelle Elliot (Nicole Kitt) and her best friend Beatrice Moreland (Jasmine Teaa) are young British women on the cusp of entering society. Soon, their entire lives will be carefully curated by their mothers, including who they socialize with, how they are educated, and ultimately, whom they will marry. While both understand the expectations placed upon them, neither relishes the idea of losing their freedom, so to speak. When Beatrice's friend Katherine (Nolina Nyx) arrives at Ashford Manor with her husband Philip (Dillon Diaz) and their friend Graf Willhelm (Jonte), both young women find an opportunity to make their final summer of freedom one to remember.

This project is filmed as a four-part series, and only the first half of the tale is told here. It's a fully realized period piece, with amazing locations, sets, costumes, and dialogue. The story comes straight out of the British Regency Era from the perspective of the wealthy elite. Lavish and proper tea parties, expensive clothing, and cultural refinement are the backdrop for this tale. And behind that facade of prim and proper behavior was the sexual aching and awakening of England's young women. Director Inka Winter crafts a well- executed tale that captures the spirit tone of the time, and the cast does a more-than-admirable job transporting the audience to 1850s England. Dillon Diaz and Nicole Kitt deliver spectacular performances, both controlling the screen whenever they appear on it.

The tension between Annabelle and Graf continues to build in Ashford Manor's second act, with the presumptuous German finding himself increasingly awkward whenever he's alone with Annabelle. Meanwhile, the young debutante finds herself intrigued by Graf's off-putting charm. And when he lets her borrow a lewd novel from his personal collection, she succumbs to her desire and pleasures herself alone in her bedchambers while reading from its steamy pages. It's quite a long scene that is filled with passion and eroticism and fits perfectly with the tone of the film.

In fact, the story really lets Nicole shine here as she descends deeper into her lustful thoughts, finding a measure of relief with her fingers night after night and day after day. That sexual tension finally boils over one lazy afternoon in the seclusion of a wooded glen. The two unlikely lovers wrap each other in the sexual embrace that is their passion for living, Graf with his carnal curiosity and Annabelle with her desire to be her own master rather than the property of some man who doesn't know her. The result is a simmering sexual encounter that starts slow and builds to a crescendo of lovemaking. It might be the most beautiful scene I've seen this year.

This is a fantastic series that likely gets exponentially better with every episode. Inka Winter tells a story of sexual awakening that is going to hit the mark with a ton of viewers, and the cast does a great job of telling her story. Nicole Kitt is amazing in this second act. Porn and period pieces go together extremely well when done right, and it's nice to see Lust Cinema embrace that reality time and time again.