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.
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