Fifteen-year-old Lulu has never known any affection from her family. But when she goes to a rock concert with Pablo, a friend of the family, he introduces Lulu to her first sexual experience. Years later, Pablo and Lulu have married; Pablo has created a sheltered, private world for Lulu, into which nothing intrudes. However, Lulu tires of her cloistered existence, and begins hanging out in shady bars, looking for vicarious thrills and danger.

Lulu portrays the sexual odyssey of one woman and, in scenes that are both funny and deeply shocking, gives new meaning to the term “fag hag”—Lulu not only wants to “hang out” with gay boys, but she also winds up as the sandwich in a series of sexual couplings with Banderas look-alikes that include group sex, handcuffs, and shavings. Politically incorrect and wildly sensual, director Bigas Luna (Jamon Jamon, Bilbao) makes countryman Almodóvar look like Ron Howard in what must be this festival’s most daring film.