Frameline’s 1996 screening of Bound, with gorgeous Gina Gershon and co-star Joey “Pants” Pantoliano in attendance, has gone down in Festival history as one of the steamiest and most surprising ever. The surprise wasn’t that Gershon, as ex-con Corky, and pouty sex kitten Jennifer Tilly, as mob moll Violet, were so damn hot together, it was that the sexiest lesbian thriller ever had been created by Andy and Larry Wachowski, two relatively unknown straight brothers directing their very first film.

The Wachowskis had hired San Francisco’s own Susie Bright to give them advice on the lesbian sex scenes (some of the best ever, thank you, Susie). Still, there is little doubt that this one-of-a-kind crime spree/erotic thriller could only have sprung from the incredible minds of the brothers who would go on to create the Matrix trilogy, write the script for V for Vendetta and bring classic TV cartoon Speed Racer to the big screen.

But no matter how long the Wachowskis keep making movies and no matter how many big hits they have, Bound will always have a special place in our hearts. In 1996, when Violet/Tilly took Corky/Gershon’s fingers, put them in her mouth and then put them in her... well, let’s just say the Frameline audience responded with almost as much surprised delight as Corky did onscreen. And 12 years later, this sexy and stylish film still sizzles.