Swung, film review: how two normal people become swingers

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This Scottish-made “swingers” film, based on a novel by Ewan Morrison, has some intriguing elements but is undermined by its shifts in tone and approach. David (Owen McDonnell) is an unemployed divorcee, at a low ebb. He is in a new relationship with a journalist, Alice (Elena Anaya), but their love life is foundering. While waiting to speak to the “dole”, he logs on to an adult website promising “swinging fun”.

When Alice finds out, she is dismayed but decides that “the swinging lifestyle” might both make a good subject for her magazine and pep up their romantic lives. In some comic scenes, the film-makers capture well the mix of toe-curling embarrassment and curiosity as David and Alice have their first adventures in swinging. Alongside the sex scenes, there are humdrum scenes involving David, his ex-wife and the child they dote on.

One moment, Swung seems like a saucy comedy; the next, it is like watching a Celtic adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s Dream Story. What makes the film sag is the increasingly earnest way in which it deals with the problems in the couple’s relationship. There is a lively cameo, though, from Elizabeth McGovern as a wig-wearing madam who hosts swinging parties and wants to tell Alice her life story.

Colin Kennedy, 87 mins Starring: Elena Anaya, Owen McDonnell