A man breaks up with his dominatrix in the year's most sadistic (and sweet) romantic comedy

“Sanctuary” doesn’t just flip the romantic comedy on its head – it ties it up and spanks it too.

The drolly demented new thriller (now playing in select cities, in theaters nationwide Friday) follows a wealthy hotel heir named Hal (Christopher Abbott), who gets pleasure from being bossed around and humiliated by his longtime dominatrix, Rebecca (Margaret Qualley). But after his father dies and leaves him the company, Hal attempts to break up with Rebecca, fearing what might happen if word gets out that the new CEO enjoys role play.

Rebecca doesn’t take the split well, and over the course of one violent night, the two engage in a twisted battle of the sexes as they fight for money and control. But through the blackmail and betrayal, they ultimately discover that they just might be perfect for one another.

“You have two people in this specific relationship: One of them has all the power in the fantasy space, the other has all the power in real life,” says director Zachary Wigon. “What happens when the boundaries between fantasy and reality go away, and it starts to merge and get messy? It raises all these interesting questions about human psychology and what exists in the real world, in terms of capital.”

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Margaret Qualley says 'Sanctuary' movie is 'sweeter than it lets on'

Despite its provocative premise, “Sanctuary” plays like a rom-com. Hal and Rebecca’s version of a “meet cute” is her showing up at his hotel suite dressed like a paralegal, before ordering him to scrub the bathroom half-naked while she watches. There’s a playful scene where Rebecca dances “Risky Business”-style to Bonnie Pointer’s “Heaven Must Have Sent You,” all while Hal frantically searches for a hidden camera with incriminating footage. There’s also a swoon-worthy kiss in an elevator that has the pent-up passion of “Moonstruck” and “When Harry Met Sally.”

“At its core, it’s essentially a rom-com,” Abbott says. “One of the surface layers is this BDSM, psychosexual thing, but it’s not that at all. It’s about two characters who learn about each other over a short amount of time and are really talking to each other for the first time. They’re both playing roles and then as the movie unravels, they’re stripped of those roles and it turns out they’re in love.”

“It’s much sweeter than it lets on,” Qualley adds. “I totally believe in their love."

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As the night goes on, Hal and Rebecca gradually open up about their fears and insecurities and discover which buttons to press to upset the other person. As cruel as they are at times, “you can really only be hurt by someone you love,” Qualley says. “The reason why the stakes are so high is because they’re meant to be together, and often, people hurt the ones they love for attention.”

“There’s a sense of romance, even when they’re arguing,” Abbott adds. “You only talk that way with someone you know well. So even though they’re fighting, there’s still fire to that.”

'His Girl Friday' and 'Eyes Wide Shut' were key influences

With its breakneck pace and spiky one-liners, “Sanctuary” has the feeling of a verbal ping-pong match. Developing the idea with screenwriter Micah Bloomberg, Wigon was inspired by old screwball comedies such as 1938’s “Bringing Up Baby” starring Katharine Hepburn and 1940’s “His Girl Friday" with Rosalind Russell.

“Those movies are obviously comedies, but they’re also filled with all sorts of awful behavior. I mean, in ‘His Girl Friday,’ Cary Grant gets his ex-wife’s fiancé’s mother (kidnapped),” Wigon says. “I was also thinking how there’s a lot of humor embedded into the psychological thriller genre. One of my favorite movies is ‘Eyes Wide Shut,’ “ the 1999 erotic drama starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, playing a couple flirting with infidelity and a secret sex cult.

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Qualley says she watched “His Girl Friday” in preparation for this project and was taken by "the speed and the cadence to the banter."

Getting to watch “Sanctuary” for the first time with an audience last month, “one of the most gratifying things was hearing people laugh,” she adds. “People were overwhelmingly comparing it to a romantic comedy and a love story. That was music to my ears.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Sanctuary': Margaret Qualley's BDSM movie is actually a love story