Throwback Thursday: Let’s All Ride The Shortbus!

A sexy early 2000s indie classic you may not have seen!

Happy 2025, Fleshbot fans! I’m back with more fun and sexy Throwback Thursday picks from the realms of adult film and beyond, for your arousal and edification purposes This week we’re staying on the mainstream side of things-- but just barely! My pick this week is Shortbus, released in 2006, and among other things, it bears the distinction of being one of only a few mainstream films where some of the sex scenes are not simulated! Let’s hop aboard this intriguing bus…

Shortbus is directed and written by John Cameron Mitchell who is also the director, producer, and star of the stage musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch and worked on its subsequent film adaptation. That’s a lot of queer creativity right off the bat! The film’s plot is one of those movies about strangers who are seemingly unrelated yet the connections between them become evident as they become forces in each other’s lives.

The opening scene of this film, set in New York City, just dives right in, as it were. We meet couples therapist Sofia Lin (Sook-Yin Lee) romping in bed with her husband rather vigorously but falling short of an orgasm. She’s never had one and identifies herself as “pre-orgasmic”. James (Paul Dawson), a former sex worker, and Jamie (PJ DeBoy), a former TV child star, are also having problems, with James wanting to open up their relationship, but we first meet James as he films himself trying to suck his own cock, where someone is watching from a window across the street. We also meet pro dominatrix Severin (Lindsay Beamish) who is in a session with a client who is kind of an entitled twat, but she’s got to pay the bills.

“The Jamies” as they are known have their first session with Sofia about their impending open relationship, and it doesn’t go well, but hearing about her predicament, they invite her to join them at a salon (in the old-school sense of the word, not a place to get your hair done!) in Brooklyn for artists and queers called the Shortbus, where there also happens to be tons of sex going on between all genders and types of folks. Sofia befriends Severin and eventually begins to bring her husband Rob along. The Jamies meet their “third”, a model named Ceth (pronounced Seth) and remember that dude who was watching the self-suck shenanigans? Well, he’s going to be important too. Also, to add to the drama, there’s a big blackout in the city in the middle of everything. I won’t spoil it for you because you should definitely give this film a watch, and not just for the pretty naked people.

Mitchell sought to, when making Shortbus, “employ sex in new cinematic ways because it’s too interesting to leave to porn.” I understand this because not all the sex in Shortbus is perfect and polished and choreographed. Much like real life, sex can be awkward, cringe, funny, and ecstatic, all in the same session, and it’s such a significant part of the human experience that it should be depicted in all of its aspects.

Shortbus is available (at press time) on free streaming services PlutoTV and Plex and available elsewhere for digital purchase and rental.