Peter Gabriel - Taking the Pulse

Lucy is a university student who pays her tuition and rent by doing several jobs: she works in an office in the daytime and at a restaurant in the evenings, and she is occasionally a research subject at a science laboratory. Her sister's boyfriend continually pesters her about paying her share of the rent. She is caring for Birdmann, who is an alcoholic and is very attracted to her. While she does not return his sexual interest, Lucy enjoys Birdmann's company, and in his presence is the only time she is shown smiling or laughing. An old joke between the two is that Birdmann frequently asks Lucy to marry him; Lucy always says no. Due to lack of money and Birdmann's addiction, Lucy makes a decision to look for another part-time job. In response to a classified ad for yet another short-term job, Lucy meets Clara, who runs a service that combines lingerie modelling and catering, performed by young women at a black tie dinner party for mostly male clients. Clara assures her that the men are not allowed to touch the women sexually. Lucy agrees to try it. Clara inspects Lucy's body and names her Sara for the purpose of anonymity. At the dinner party, Lucy is the only girl dressed in white; the other women wear black lingerie that is much more revealing than Lucy's outfit. After one other session as a serving girl, Lucy is promoted. She receives a call from Clara's assistant for a different request. Lucy is driven to a country mansion and offered a new role wherein she will be voluntarily sedated and sleep naked while male clients lie beside her. They are permitted to caress and cuddle her, but vaginal penetration is not allowed. After Lucy falls asleep, she lies unconscious on the bed, and Clara leads in her client. After Clara reminds the man of the no-penetration rule, he strips and curls up beside Lucy. After a few of these sessions, Lucy has enough money to move into a larger, more expensive apartment, where she lives alone. She receives a call from Birdmann, who has overdosed on painkillers. She goes to his house and finds him dying in his bed. Upon a dying man's last request, sobbing, she takes off her shirt and gets in bed with him, but he dies in her arms. At Birdmann's funeral, Lucy abruptly asks an old boyfriend if he will marry her, in an echo of Birdmann's old playful banter. The ex-boyfriend, however, not understanding the reference, takes her seriously and, shocked, refuses her, citing a number of Lucy's personal problems as his reasons. At her next assignment with Clara, Lucy asks if she can see what happens during the sessions while she is asleep. Clara refuses, saying it will put her clients at risk of blackmail. Lucy decides to surreptitiously film her next encounter. The client is once again the first man, but this time, he also drinks the tea with a much larger dose of the sleeping drug. The following morning, Clara comes in and checks the man's pulse, showing no surprise when he cannot be awakened. Clara tries to wake Lucy, who has overdosed as well, but she is eventually able to revive her using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Lucy screams when she sees the dead man in bed next to her. The film ends with the scene captured by the hidden camera: the dead man and the sleeping girl both lying peacefully together in bed.