Sessions

April 07, 2025

Sessions

Airdate

September 26th, 1983 on NBC

Directed by

Richard Pearce

Written by

Barbara Turner

Starring

Veronica Hamel

Jeffrey DeMunn

Jill Eikenberry

Heather Benna

Trivia

Mr. Von Dohlen's Home Alone 3 co-star David Thornton makes a brief appearance near the end of this film.

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Leigh Churchill (Veronica Hamel) is a high-priced sex worker whose therapy sessions narrate the film, revealing a fractured woman who is drifting and miserable. She despises her clients but enjoys the power and control she gains from her work. She is hardened, cold, sad, and untrusting.

Leigh is a single mother of two daughters, but her children are mostly absent from her life while attending boarding school. Leigh's existence is a web of lies due to her double life. Her past is haunted by her abusive father. Her family believes Leigh's lie that her job as a fashion designer is the source of her wealth. She longs for her lie to be true but can't find success in such a role. Seemingly, the only people in her life who know the truth, other than her therapist and clients, are her sometime boyfriend, Josh (David Marshall Grant), and her friend and fellow sex worker, Rachel (Heather Benna).

A 'straight' friend plays matchmaker, inviting Leigh to dinner so she can become acquainted with Dr. Walter Hemmings (Jeffrey DeMunn). Leigh starts seeing the doctor on a regular basis and finds herself falling in love. She anticipates the worst, waiting for a rejection she feels is inevitable if Walter discovers the truth. Because of this fear, Leigh begins abusing alcohol. She sabotages her relationship with Walter, closing herself off from him. He seems understanding, but Leigh never gives him the chance to know her. She says she would cry about the relationship, but she can't.

After getting into a cab and realizing she can't remember her home address, her alcoholism seizing control, she seeks the help of her therapist and decides to change her life. She becomes sober and packs her belongings to start life anew in L.A..

Mr. Von Dohlen portrays Paulie, a delivery boy Leigh's friend Rachel begins dating. He appears in two scenes. Once with a delivery early in the film and later leaving an apartment just as Leigh arrives. His character is revealed to have beaten Rachel and robbed her of the $700 she had on her person.

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A New York Times Piece

Sessions is not available to stream on any platform. The VHS and Beta-Max tapes are rare. You can purchase a digital transfer of the film from TrueTVmovies.com