Amanda Devlin is an attractive woman in perhaps her mid-30′s. She has an expressive, pretty face and shoulder length brown hair. And she’s stacked.

But Amanda’s been having some problems lately. Her husband’s left, and her financial situation is problematic. She was in a car accident and the insurance company paid for the damage. But she didn’t exactly spend the insurance money on the damage. The repair shop told her the car had other problems, and the money went to fix them.

She doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong, until she gets a visit from Chris Sutton, insurance investigator extraordinnaire. She signed paperwork accepting money for work that was never done. Apparently she’s committed insurance fraud, and she’s in big trouble.

Poor Amanda is weary. She doesn’t need any more problems. She’s practical, sensible and broke. She knows she needs to work something out. In very matter of fact way she offers the investigator sexual favors to make the issue go away. He acts offended by this, but the counter-offer he proposes is no more ethical. In the end they agree that she’ll come to his house for a day of spanking and house cleaning, and he won’t report her for insurance fraud.

Amanda shows up smartly dressed in a black jacket and skirt, as if she were going for a job interview. She looks professional and sexy. It’s a nice touch. Unfortunately, she also arrives to Sutton’s house late.

He starts off with a lecture. Then he orders her to put out her hand. He straps it as if she were a tardy schoolgirl. He even says “now you’ll learn what happens to naughty girls”. She has to hold out the other hand as well.

She complains that hand-strapping wasn’t part of the deal. But the truth hits her, and it shows in her face as she accepts the punishment. The truth is that she really doesn’t have any choice. Reluctantly, she does as she’s told. A tiny bit of the dignity that she’s acquired during her 30+ years of living seems to vanish with each stroke. And this is only the beginning of her day.

Ms. Devlin is a wonderful actress. Her wearily-expressive visage, her reluctant acquiescence, her slow descent into ever-more humiliating obedience — these elements are handled so well by her that they make this spanking video worthy of being called a spanking film. If there were Oscars for spanking movies, she would be nominated.

Each scene that follows is another wound to Ms. Devlin’s ebbing pride. When she is spanked over the knee, you can sense her mortification that she, a grown woman, should be subjected to such an indignity.

Mr. Sutton seems to relish her embarrassment. He hikes up her skirt, exposing her white panties. He pulls her panties into a thong, exposing her beautiful rear end. He spanks her hard. She gasps. She murmurs “please”. She complains that it hurts. She asks if there’s another way to work this out. Again she seems to be hinting at sexual gratification. He merely orders her not to wriggle and continues with the spanking.

They change positions. He makes her bend over the sofa, and he spanks her some more. She says she’s sorry. She promises not to do it again. “I’ll make damn sure,” he replies.

He lets her up. She adjusts her skirt correctly. He makes her hike it back up. She complains that he’s humiliating her. Again, that seems to part of his goal.

She has to vacuum the room with her skirt hiked up. Then she has to dust. During the dusting, she finds a cane by the mantelpiece.

Sutton decides she’s not working quickly enough, and he threatens to use the cane on her. She begs him not to, but you don’t have to be psychic to guess how that will turn out. Her reactions to the cane strokes are wonderfully vocal. Her body dances deliciously with each blow.

He also spanks her in the diaper position. He pulls down her undies. She gets very upset. Her embarrassment is palpable. For the viewer, it’s a treat. Eventually he lets her up and straps her. She yelps in pain, her sore bottom redder and redder.

Part of the punishment is humiliation. He tells her so explicitly, as if she (and we) couldn’t have guessed. He makes her take off her top and her skirt. She’s in her bra and panties. She has to fold her clothes carefully and place them down neatly. She has to parade for him. She gets spanked some more, in various positions, including the diaper position again. She gets more strapping and caning as well.

I lost track of the amount of times she offered sexual favors to him, and the amount of times he used it as a pretext for additional punishment. But there is something distinctly sexual about this relationship. She presents herself as a damsel in distress, a sort of spankable Blanche DuBois who appeals to the kindness (or at least sexual willingness) of strangers.

He pretends to be too moral to accept sexual favors. But this isn’t only about insurance fraud and discipline. He undresses her. He makes her parade for him. He manipulates her into different positions. He takes breaks, during which she cleans, and then he comes back for more. The activity certainly shares many aspects with a session of prolonged, passionate sex, with the usual and necessary breaks in between. And as much as Amanda protests the spankings, her appeals for sex instead seem heartfelt, as if the circumstances are putting her in the mood.

At the end of the video, he tells her to report to him again next week. She agrees to, even though two sessions weren’t part of the original agreement. When finally dismissed, Amanda doesn’t rush away like a bat out of hell. Instead, there’s something slow and poignant, almost reluctant, about the way these two people part. I sure don’t want to see them separate. I’m not sure they do, either. Interesting.