Pro dommes, like most sex workers, are sometimes misunderstood. Is it just about making a living, or is it more than that? The endless debate: empowering, degrading, both, neither? Natalie (Nicole LaLiberte), a twentysomething lesbian dominatrix, and her friends, all working together in one fictitious upper-crust New York City dungeon, are grappling with these very questions as they struggle to make sense of their desires and their dreams.

For Natalie, a surprising collaboration with her friendly neighborhood drug dealer and an equally unexpected new love affair bring some of these struggles to a timely head, as she tries to reconcile her pay-the-bills sex work with the rest of her Lower East Side life. Her new lover disapproves of her work, especially as Natalie appears to — gasp! — actually enjoy it. And then, a promising internship appears to be just what she needs to pursue her filmmaking dreams, but you know what they say about “all that glitters.”

Although rather fantastical about the day-to-day life and work of pro dommes, My Normal does portray matters of the heart with a realistic touch. Underneath all the whips, chains and human ashtrays, co-writers Renee Garzon, Abdul Malik Abbot and Adam Sales, along with director Irving Schwartz, have crafted a simple, relatable coming-of-age tale, with the right dash of old-fashioned romantic comedy. With an S&M backdrop. That’s “old-fashioned,” right? — ALLISON STELLY