At the Tabard, where reed-smoke pooled beneath rafters, the Host—a man with a jaw like a hammer and a grin that promised more than ale—clapped his hands and set the terms. “We’ll tell each other tales,” he said, voice rough as leather. “A jest, a warning, a sin confessed in rhyme. Five coins’ worth of truth, and a night’s warmth for the soul.” The company agreed with a roar; the road to Canterbury would be paved in stories.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s original Canterbury Tales is famous for its framing narrative: a diverse group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral who engage in a storytelling contest to pass the time. Many of Chaucer’s original stories, particularly "The Miller's Tale" and "The Reeve's Tale," were deeply bawdy, utilizing crude humor, infidelity, and sexual satire.

Endures

They came to Canterbury in twos and threes, a muddle of polished boots and muddier secrets, the cathedral’s shadow long over the cobbles. Lantern-light bent the faces of the inns into masks: glints of laughter, traces of old grief, and the sharp, hungry look of those who’d learned how to bargain with sin.

Where Chaucer used the tales to satirize medieval estates—corrupt clergy, boastful millers, venal summoners—Lee uses them to satirize sexual mores. The five tales depicted are:

The film features an ensemble cast of familiar faces from the Golden Age of Porn. The main cast is led by Hyapatia Lee as the Hostess, alongside Mike Horner as the Knight, and Bud Lee himself as the Lord.