Blue Film review – polarising sex worker drama is well-acted and deeply disturbing

A camboy meets up with a convicted paedophile who turns out to be his old English teacher in Elliot Tuttle’s uncomfortable drama There have reportedly been audience walk-outs at screenings of this indie drama from young American film-maker Elliot Tuttle, a two-hander about a sex worker hired for the night by his former English teacher, a convicted paedophile.

In interviews Tuttle has said his film was rejected by several major festivals. What makes it so uncomfortable is not the sex; mostly what we see on screen is two men talking.

But early on a mood of skin-crawling unease seeps in, and it remains for every second of the film’s 82-minute run time. Kieron Moore plays Aaron Eagle (not his real name), a Los Angeles sex worker and camboy.

In the video content he livestreams, Aaron is a dom; gym-perfected and tattooed, he hurls homophobic insults at his fans. One night, he arranges to meet a client who offers to pay $50,000 for one night.

The retirement-age man who answers the door of the Airbnb turns out to be Aaron’s former English teacher Mr Grant (Reed Birney), who was sacked after attempting to rape a 12-year-old pupil.

Aaron was not the victim, but the teacher says he has always been in love with Aaron – though he is no longer sexually attracted to him. Continue reading...