Maitland Ward - Muse

Actresses: Maitland Ward, Scarlit Scandal, Gianna Dior, Adriana Chechik, Lena Paul
Studio: Deeper/Vixen Media

Release Date: 2020-09-20
Runtime: 320 Minutes

8.6/10

Introduction

This will be my first in depth western porn review and to start it off I’ve chosen a highly regarded production by Kayden Kross, premiere director for Vixen Media’s Deeper label. In this series (although marketed as more of a film released in parts) we see rising star Maitland Ward resuming her role as one of the industry’s leading dominant woman style performers along with a high profile cast featuring some of the best male and female talent at the time. 
 

Production & Setting

Let’s start off with the story and cast. Maitland Ward is a retired adult performer who now educates and advocates for the industry and porn in general. The film opens up with the central anchor point of the story, Maitland is discussing whether porn has attributes that merit it the label of being art, and in this scene we are introduced to the majority of the cast, albeit many supporting actors; Adriana Chechik, a Canadian immigrant who is in an abusive relationship but secretly hooks up with Seth Gamble, a dom that recognizes the problem but confronting it would put Adriana in more harm, Scarlit Scandal, a curious woman torn between following her traditional father’s rules and expectations, and a desire to explore what the world has in store for her, Gianna Dior, the hot chick that doesn’t pay much attention in class but loves to have sex, and Lena Paul, a single mother going back to college and seeking a means to be sexually satisfied while living with her son and the lack of space that entails. 
 
Other supporting actors such as Dante Colle (a fan of Maitland’s porn days), Rob Piper (Scarlit Scandal’s boyfriend), A.J. (a male student who believes porn is a men’s rights issue and is the resident incel of both this film and the sequel), and Manuel Ferrera (a complex man that serves as Maitland’s muse, with a history and stature to rival the showrunner and provide an anchor throughout the films), and for those that saw Gabbie Carter, apologies, she’s really just an extra in this film. 

The central plot kicks off with Maitland providing the class with a year end assignment to use porn as a means of delivering or representing a message in order to elevate and promote the potential artistic merits and subvert the role and position society has placed upon the idea of porn. Through the course of the film subplots develop alongside this pillar, such as Adriana and Seth’s relationship, Scarlit’s personal struggle, and Maitland’s investigation of libertinism and the roles of women being the tool of sexual release for men. These plots all conclude by the end of the film with the exception of A.J.’s, who while he has no sex part to play in this film, his story carries over into the sequel as his incel personality manifests.

Production wise, as expected of a Vixen Media work, and especially one directed by Kayden Kross, the quality is outstanding. While Maitland is the central character of the film and receives the most sexual screen time, the others all get special treatment and unique film aesthetics to signal the differences between the parties involved. Maitland’s scenes happen either in a classic yellow hued hotel room or her bright white penthouse that reflect her personality of having casual sex but also high class enough to rise above the usual offerings. Adriana’s is obscured by darkness and smoke to enhance the BDSM aspects, Lena’s is in the small confines of her home study to represent she has found a private space, and Scarlit’s is in a bar/game room where sex is more fun and games as promoted by her co-star Gianna. Of course these are my interpretations and it’s possible none of these are valid or even intended explanations and the sets were chosen because they look nice.

Overall, the sets are unique and varied, nothing particularly ground breaking but they aren’t shoehorned into the film because that’s what was available. The sets work with the story and the overall narrative pacing. First scene is shot at night in Maitland’s room which works as the men were strangers harassing Maitland after work so a quick time skip to the evening is appropriate. Second scene with Scarlit Scandal and Gianna Dior is a meetup at Gianna’s house for the school project. Third is a bit of a time stretch as it starts in the morning with Maitland getting a couple men for sex but then it zips to night time when the sex actually starts to pick up, but at least the location works. Next is Lena’s house, again, makes sense with the subplot involving her project and tensions with family. The only one that is a bit out of place is Adriana’s BDSM finale as I’m not sure where the room is. The scene works within the context but no clue where they found an empty dark room to rope play in. Production gets a solid high rating with settings to match, although the penthouse was used a bit more than probably needed.

Score: 9/10 (Production), 8.5/10 (Setting)

Sex & Performance

The meat of the review. This will dive into each sex scene and point out what worked and what didn’t (including if the money shot was disappointing or worth it). There are six sex scenes in the film, the first, third, and last feature Maitland Ward (with Adriana Chechik appearing in the second). The second scene features Scarlit Scandal and Gianna Dior (both at the time rising stars among the upper echelon of porn performers), the fourth features Lena Paul and the penultimate scene features Adriana in rope play. Gabbie Carter does have a solo shot towards the end of the movie but it is quite obscured and just an extra to support the school assignment plot.

Beginning with Maitland’s scenes, as already explained previously, the setting is the same, it’s either her living room or her bed room and there are many shots throughout the film to make people familiar with it. Lighting and visual fidelity is all solid so I’ll dive into the sex bits. For the first scene Maitland commands a dominant role, taunting, lecturing, and instigating the sex with co-star Dante Colle while his friend Ramzi Abed (a porn director in real life) plays the cucked as he is forced to watch the session. I won’t lie, Maitland Ward is not that attractive to me when having sex. I think she is quite attractive clothed, and certainly her powerful and confident performance sells a different type of appeal, but as far as the older woman physical demographic goes, she doesn’t really do it. 

Regarding the scene itself, the start was good, taunting the men, ripping her stockings, etc., and then the actual sex begins. There is a mix of positions, sloppy blowjobs, cowgirl, missionary, the usual, nothing particularly exciting or visually stellar. The filming itself is also a bit less sharp in contrast to later scenes and the non-sex shots. Maitland is enthusiastic but perhaps a bit much. It’s possible her sex role within the narrative is meant to emulate something akin to an animal vs someone just good at sex, if so, then in that respect it works. The cumshot is nice albeit most of the load drips away but along with a reasonable length sex scene and the lead up, I think it’s a good start, but the weakest scene of the film for sure.

Maitland’s second scene is a duo affair with Adriana and this is an improvement over Maitland’s first. The general setting is that Maitland was going to have a threesome with a pair of male escorts and then a distraught Adriana shows up. Things escalate and it becomes more or less an orgy with a tinge of competition. The passion and emotion present is quite convincing as Maitland and Adriana match each other shot for shot, position for position, while mixing it up and interacting with each other. There are a variety of positions, angles, sloppiness, and solid cumshots in the end. Adding to this setup you realize that what is essentially happen is a teacher and a guardian of sorts has engaged in sex with one of her students, an emotionally vulnerable one at that, and the scene is elevated in its impact. 

Lastly, the final scene of the film and Maitland’s last. This one is set in the main area of the penthouse similar to her previous, but this time its with her muse, Manuel Ferrera. The scene itself has little plot weighing it down as it is framed more as an encore. The main selling point will be that it features anal with Maitland, which is significant as this is her first professional anal sex scene, so those wanting that bit of a treat will be happy. Performance wise, expect more of the same at this point, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Maitland is too vocal for me at times and I’ve already remarked about her looks, but it’s hard to deny the performance and enthusiasm (having a vet like Manuel even if he’s got more of a dad bod now is also nice to keep things at a higher caliber, also, both Maitland and Manuel are in their mid/late 40s, if you want people like Maitland in porn but not Manuel, you a potato). Overall, the scene is solid, and the money shot is quite filling. I’d place this in second place mainly because Adriana is too much of a boost.

Adriana Chechik during her time in the industry was known as one of the most enthusiastic and “dirty” performers, akin to a modern variation of legends like Sasha Grey. Adriana has two sex scenes in the film, one previously mentioned with Maitland, the other being her feature and school assignment plot wise. The scene opens as its being reviewed and critiqued by Maitland and Manuel, but once that dialogue is over the main show begins. Adriana is tied up in a traditional “Ushiro takate kote” position with ropes remaining on her once she is free from hanging. She is fingered, face fucked, spun around, and when the penetrative sex starts, we are treated to a wet and sticky session as Adriana slobbers on everything, squirts across the stage, and has anal sex throughout (which for her is basically another Tuesday given her career). Seth Gamble is a great performer and I’ve watched many of her works since his debut. He’s moved more into directing these days but it’s a nice treat to still see him perform. The chemistry is solid between these two, the performances believable, the noises aren’t too exaggerated, but given how kinky Adriana is in general, these voices are leaning more towards the real side of the scale. A great scene overall but visually a bit restricted in parts, but that is for the plot, not due to a poor execution. 

Moving on we reach Lena Paul’s scene, the 4th of the film. Lena is a single mother dealing with going back to college and handling her son who isn’t the most proactive. Lena struggles to find a space of her own in the house as her son and friends often dominate the house in one way or another. Her scene features Troy Francisco, someone I’m fairly new to as he hails from Europe but he’s shown to be quite the performer in the Vixen house. I don’t quite know where he came from for this scene as it just starts off with Lena engaging in foreplay with Troy, but I assume he was just hired and is a relative nobody. The premise of the scene is Lena using a stethoscope to monitor her heart as she ramps up the sexual activities, of course this goes by the wayside because it’s hard to have sex when one hand is restricted to holding a weird object. The sex though is great. It’s sloppy, there are some real heavy thud sounds as Troy drives into Lena in standing doggy, there is also sex on the piano keys. The positions are varied, they use all of the room, Lena looks fantastic, her bush looks great, and the performance through and through felt legitimate and passionate. I would place this as my top scene of the film if it weren’t for Scarlit and Gianna’s threesome.

The film’s second scene and my personal favorite, Scarlit and Gianna’s scene is quality through and through. The general setup is that for the assignment Scarlit decides to have Gianna fuck her boyfriend while she films her own reaction to the act. This of course goes off the rails quickly and Gianna pulls Scarlit in, which given how her boyfriend (Rob Piper) was starting to take to these potential acts of infidelity, was a good thing. The first shot is Gianna giving Rob a blowjob while he eats out Scarlit in an upright chair position. The only crime in this shot was that it didn’t last long. From there its a wild ride of reverse cowgirl, eating each other out, missionary and doggy, and all sorts of positions in between. It’s sweaty, it’s noisy, but overall it is a stellar scene from two of the biggest up and coming performers around. The fact Gianna left her lingerie on also really helps sell the quality of the scenes and their overall visuals.

 

Score: 8/10 (Sex), 9/10 (Performance)

Aesthetics

This category focuses on the visuals, mainly of the performer in relation to the setting overall. Starting off with Maitland Ward. Her outfit in the first scene reminds me very much of some early 2000s hooker look. I’m sure some will find it sexy, but the leopard print onesie and the black fishnet stockings aren’t quite my thing. For the scene they work as the stockings are ripped for easy access, but I feel the animal print is just too dated. Maitland’s second scene features her in lingerie that she keeps on for the majority of the scene. It also looks kind of old in style, but at least it shows off more skin at the start. Her last scene outfit is actually pretty good. A leather strap design dress with sheer stockings (or leggings?) mixed with gold plated buckles, rings, and her lock pendant necklace. The look really suits her dominant woman vibe and she keeps it on throughout the scene which honestly helps hide the bits of her I don’t particularly like to see.

Adriana’s first scene has her in lingerie as well, and it looks alright, nothing too fancy but it works since she did come into the scene after she ran away in her nightwear. Her second scene though, sure she isn’t wearing anything, but the patterns from the ropes, 10/10. Lena Paul’s dress doesn’t last long enough to matter too much in this scene but it does stay on around her waist throughout, but it’s all scrunched up. The gold chain connection her dress to leather wrist straps is a nice touch as it creates a restriction to her overall movement which helps amplify certain positions (such as the piledriver towards the end). Gianna and Scarlit both wear white, semi-transparent lingerie and it’s great. Scarlit’s comes off fairly quickly into the scene but Gianna keeps hers on, and with the tinge of mint color along the torso parts, the gold chain for the leather leg straps, and the gold fittings throughout, mixed with Gianna’s leggy build, best outfit of the film. 

Score: 8.5/10

Summary

This film is interesting in its subject matter and it helps there are many diverse subplots throughout that can operate under the umbrella of the main story. This lends to it being a good watch for the story and given the sex scenes are evenly spaced and well performed while being unique in the context surrounding them only serves to bolster the standing of the film. This is Maitland Ward’s first major film piece. She did a couple mini-series under the direction of Kayden Kross prior, but they were more episodic in nature. Muse won’t be for everyone. Maitland I think is a fairly divisive performer on the visuals and sex side of things, but there is no denying her persona carries much weight into her scenes, especially the non-sexual ones, which is to be expected of a mainstream actor coming into an industry where she doesn’t have a decade of simulated sex practice. 

The film is a long one, part of the issue with western studios releasing films in episodic format online only to merge them later in the physical prints (or they keep them separate still despite the film form factor being more appropriate). I do recommend this however for those that think western porn doesn’t make convincing story narratives anymore (which has never been the case anyways). The cast is great, the story is interesting, and there is a sequel to see where some unresolved plots go. 

Score: 8.6/10
Pros

– Solid production quality and visuals
– Convincing characters and performances
– Sex has variety, there is femdom, light BDSM, anal, etc., so there should be something for the average person.

Cons

– Maitland sex scenes are hit and miss (but this is a personal preference)
– Episodic format is annoying given it’s a film, and Vixen is not the only studio to do this with their digital files vs DVD.
– Finale monologue was somewhat undercut by the follow up sex scene that ends with a fade to black.