Martin Gero’s directorial debut, which opens Friday at the Village East Cinema, depicts five parallel sexual encounters. In spite of its explicit title, there is nothing erotically edgy or even remotely titillating here. There are so many warped tales of dysfunctional sex lives presented in such a short span that the few people who see this film will probably come out of it relieved that they didn’t choose a career in marriage counseling.

Abby (Kristin Booth) introduces a sex toy in an attempt to revive her stale romance with Andrew (Josh Dean). Matt (co-screenwriter Aaron Abrams) and Kristen (Carly Pope) have been platonic best pals who want to try loveless sex. Former flames Mia (Sonja Bennett) and Eric (Josh Cooke) get together for old time’s sake while attempting to suppress unresolved feelings for each other. Skirt-chaser Ken (Callum Blue) scores with naïf Jamie (Diora Baird), but he’ll soon learn that he’s no match for her gamesmanship. Finally, Gord (Ennis Esmer) pushes his girlfriend, Inez (Natalie Lisinska), to bed his roommate, Dave (Peter Oldring), so he can watch the fireworks.

The film, which made its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, is actually something of a pleasant surprise. Canada’s filmmaking talents (or lack thereof) have been joylessly cranking out comedies of this ilk for years, but too few of them are at once humorous and provocative like Mr. Gero’s film. Still, one can’t help but wonder whether this project would have been more appropriate as a play. Every scene takes place in a bedroom. And what translates as tepid on film could actually pass as daring on the stage, especially given the hoopla about Nicole Kidman, Edie Falco, and even Daniel Radcliffe doing the full monty on Broadway.