Rutger Hauer stars as Sanford Pollard, an over-the-hill writer who plays the menacing role of puppetmaster in an erotic love triangle. Carter Baines (Matthew Davis) is Sanford's handsome undergraduate pupil. Julia is the hot-and-bothered brunette graduate student who loves to write, but she loves Sanford and Carter more. Sexual desire, the lust for power, and the promise of literary fame initially bring the trio together. But those same ambitions also complicate what begins as a sweet and passionate three-way arrangement. Soon Carter has decided that he needs Julia more than he needs Sanford, and Julia is ready to reciprocate, but Sanford has his own reasons for wanting them both: one feeds his ego while the other satisfies his libido. However, time soon runs out for Sanford's career and for his lovers, as he has created two writers who match him in selfishness and narcissism. Everyone starts doing what he or she wants, and all hell breaks loose when Julia is struck by an extremely unpleasant surprise. Everyone's life is suddenly compromised, and all are left to stew in the meaninglessness of the lives they are left with. Director David Carl Lang deserves credit, not only for maintaining a steady hand with material that could easily have come off as melodramatic, but also for not letting his characters off the hook. Each one has to face up to the repercussions of his or her decisions.