That's a bit risqué! Keira Knightley gets spanked in sexually charged film A Dangerous Method

By Jessica Satherley

Last updated at 12:51 PM on 23rd June 2011

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Risqué stills from Keira Knightley’s upcoming film have been released, showing the actress being spanked by her co-star.

Set in the early 1900s, 26-year-old star is seen dressed in a white corseted dress as she is belted by actor Michael Fassbender, who plays her psychiatrist in the sexually-charged project.

The two are then shot in a passionate love scene in the film based around the psychiatrist’s turbulent relationship with Knightley’s character and his mentor Sigmund Freud.

Fetish film? Keira Knightley plays a Russian patient who has repressed sexual desires to be beaten by her lover

A Dangerous Method is a David Cronenberg-directed film that takes a look at the intense relationship between psychiatrist Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen.

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Knightley plays Sabina Spielrein – a beautiful young woman who comes between the two medical professionals.

In the film based on a true story, Jung and Freud give birth to the discipline of psychoanalysis and discover clinical methods of investigating the mind whilst becoming caught up in a love triangle.

Illicit affair: Keira's character embarks on a scandalous relationship with her psychiatrist, played by Michael Fassbender

Set in Austria: Keira embraces Michael Fassbender's character on a park bench by the river

Vincent Cassel also stars as Otto Gross – an Austrian psychoanalyst and early disciple of Austrian neurologist Freud.

A Dangerous Method is the third consecutive collaboration between David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, following A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises.

Cronenberg, 68, is known for his controversial films and is renowned for his psychological thrillers and horrors.

The Canadian filmmaker's hits include the 1996 thriller Crash, the 1988 psychological horror Dead Ringers and the 1983 horror/thriller The Dead Zone.

Unhappy patient: A Dangerous Method is the third consecutive collaboration between David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensenl

Inside the mind: In the film, Jung and Freud give birth to the discipline of psychoanalysis, while Knightley is a patient

Set in Austria, Keira plays a Russian patient who was beaten as a child by her father and as an adult has been repressing sexual desires of being hit by a man.

She is recommended by her psychiatrist not to repress her desires and ends up embarking on a relationship with Fassbender’s character.

The film has been adapted from Christopher Hampton’s screenplay The Talking Cure and is set to be released in February 2012.

After completing filming on the upcoming flick, Keira is now currently shooting Seeing a Friend for the End of the World in Miami.

Leading men: The film is based around the intense relationship between psychiatrist Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen (left)

Risqué scenes: Vincent Cassel also stars in the film as Otto Gross, pictured here in a love scene

She was spotted last week at the set in Florida and her Klaxons keyboardist boyfriend James, 27, was by her side to visit her.

Keira stars alongside Steve Carell and Melanie Lynskey in the romantic drama that is also set to be released next year.