Page 76 - AVN February 2018

DVD REVIEWS
The Submission of Emma Marx: Evolved
AAAA 1/2
NEW SENSATIONS EROTIC
STORIES
NewSensations.com
DIRECTOR: Jacky St. James
CAST: Penny Pax, Riley Reid, Violet
Starr, Van Wylde, Jay Smooth, Mick
Blue, John Strong, Damon Dice;
Ricky Johnson, Mike Mancini (Non-
Sex roles). 120 Min.
CATEGORY: DRAMA, BDSM
AVN Award magnet since its debut,
winning Best BDSM Movie for its
first volume, then picking up three
awards for its second (including
Best Actress for Penny Pax) and five
TThe Emma Marx series has been an
awards for the third.
The fourth volume continues
to exhibit the same level of
excellence that garnered Jacky St.
James the Best Director – Feature
award, plus honors for screenplay,
cinematography, editing and
soundtrack. The awards are a
EDITOR’S CHOICE | AVN.com
measure of just how different Emma Marx is from standard adult fare.
For one thing, this is a bona fide series, with a compelling storyline and
characters that are worth caring about. For another, it’s not a parody—
which sets it apart from other ambitious adult movies. Quietly and
professionally, the Emma Marx team holds itself to the highest standards
and delivers top-notch entertainment. And it literally is told from a female
point of view—written and directed by a woman, and focused on the messy
and contradictory desires of three female characters.
Those new to Emma’s search for sexual fulfillment can pick up the
storyline here, but they’d be doing themselves a disservice not to first
watch at the very least the previous volume, The Submission of Emma Marx:
Exposed, which in this reviewer’s opinion is still the high water mark of
the series. But even seen as a standalone movie, Evolved offers good acting
from the returning cast (Pax, Riley Reid, Van Wylde) while bringing in a
new character to interact with Emma.
Now living with her sister after the death of her Dom, Mr. Frederick
(Richie Calhoun), in Exposed, Emma becomes curious about their
roommate, the bristly, secretive Mariah (Violet Starr, who is just terrific—
both her acting and sexual pyrotehnics). Turns out Mariah’s got a taste
for BDSM, so Emma—who has put that part of her life away—breaks
out some favorite gear and begins to train the young wanna-be sub. We
get to see Starr in two sex scenes: one in which she’s just playing with
dominance and submission, and a second one in which she has learned
about the deeper meanings of the
dom/sub relationship. But it’s not
just Mariah who evolves. Emma
herself begins to change, exploring at
first tentatively the idea of letting her
submissive role go.
Along the way, the audience is
treated to high-caliber acting and
four sex scenes. Reid and Wylde
give their all in a hate fuck, Starr
sparkles in the aforementioned boy/
girl scenes, and the finale is a full-
throttle three-way, complete with
d.p., that has Pax pummeled by Mick
Blue and John Strong. Once again, a
quality package all the way around.
—Iris Blocks
Evolutionary Clockwise from top left, Violet Starr taking instruction
from Penny Pax, Riley Reid, John Strong, Penny Pax and Mick Blue;
Penny Pax; Violet Starr and Jay Strong.
76 | AVN.com | 2.18