LOVE WINS

PAYING FOR IT

2024 / 85 min / color

Sook-Yin Lee’s film is an adaptation of a graphic novel written by her ex-boyfriend, Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, and its subject matter is in fact a break-up. Chester (played by Dan Beirne) is clearly done with relationships based on intimacy and mutual trust, and decides that the best option for him at the moment is to find a woman he can pay for sex. No emotional commitment, no chance for disappointment. This is completely new territory for the director’s alter ego Sonny (Emily Lê), who stays in contact with Chester despite the fact that their relationship is over. Since she tends to follow her heart, she ends up getting somewhat lost in the world of sexual possibilities, as well as having to redefine her relationship with Chester. Set in Toronto at the turn of the millennium, the film explores themes of sex work, queer culture and, more broadly, freedom. It does so respectfully, avoiding any kind of cheap sensationalism. In Paying for It Sook-Yin Lee confronts her past, which is never easy, committing herself to rigorous honesty, no matter how painful.