Half Moon Street 1986

Dr. Lauren Slaughter, Ph.D., is an American academic living in London, where she holds a prestigious but underpaid position at a Middle East policy institute. Her superiors claim credit for her research, and she struggles to cover the rent on her rundown flat.

After receiving an anonymous video that promotes the financial rewards of working as an escort, she signs up with the high-end Jasmine Escort Agency and begins moonlighting as an escort to wealthy men. Among her clients are a Palestinian businessman named Karim Hatami, who gifts her the lease on his rented apartment on Half Moon Street, and Lord Sam Bulbeck, a trusted member of the House of Lords involved in international diplomacy and national defense.

Slaughter and Bulbeck develop a rapport that goes beyond sex, each enjoying the other’s conversation and intelligence. However, Bulbeck’s work on a delicate Middle East peace process forces him to miss a series of dates, leaving Slaughter feeling rejected.

Slaughter also briefly becomes involved with a playboy named Sonny, who later appears at her apartment. He attacks her and threatens her with a gun, but she outsmarts him and, in a crucial turn, kills him.

Karim arrives and holds her at gunpoint, revealing that he was the man who sent the video tape. Karim and Sonny are part of a conspiracy to sabotage the peace process by murdering Bulbeck while he is in the company of a prostitute, thereby harming both the man and his reputation. A special forces team storms the apartment and kills Karim. Slaughter and Bulbeck rekindle their romance.