Blue Film

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2. Blue Film

The Reel Review

A-

A gay sex worker specializing as a fetish cam boy agrees to a $50,000 job with a mysterious client who turns out to be a problematic figure from his childhood. Kieron Moore and Reed Birney star in this controversial LGBTQ+ psychological drama.

Wow. Blue Film will be a very uncomfortable watch for many viewers, as it frankly tackles such taboo topics as pedophilia, sexual perversion and fetishism – namely, degradation/insult roleplay, rape fantasies and teacher/student roleplay. But for those with the stomach for it, writer/director Elliot Tuttle’s feature film debut is also a thought-provoking, emotionally gripping film that explores the root cause of pedophilia and how childhood trauma drastically shapes people’s lives – in this case, resulting in one emotionally walled-off sex worker.

Moore (Boots) and Birney (Mass) both give convincing performances in this dialogue-heavy two-hander as profoundly lonely characters who emotionally and physically connect through their fetishes and trauma. The symbolism of the body shaving scene is particularly icky considering the context, but Blue Film is certainly a unique, uncomfortable viewing experience about topics rarely explored in film.

REEL FACTS

• SXSW and Sundance both refused to screen Blue Film due to its controversial subject of pedophilia.

• The childhood footage in the film is from writer/director Elliot Tuttle’s own childhood, knowing how difficult it would be to convince an actor to include his personal footage in such a context.

• Kieron Moore, who in real life is straight, says he was drawn to the role because of the strength of its screenplay.