#TIFF24: “PAYING FOR IT” REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Chester Brown (Dan Beirne) is a Cartoonist who lives with his girlfriend Sonny (Emily Lê) in the late ’90s. Sonny wants to redefine and open-up their relationship so she can better explore her feelings for other men. Chester is okay with the idea, but has no intention of pursuing romantic love with someone else. Instead, he decides to explore a new kind of intimacy by paying and sleeping with sex workers.

Based on Brown’s controversial best-selling graphic novel, PAYING FOR IT is a truthful portrait of a taboo subject. At the same time, it is an honest and intimate piece about romantic and platonic love, sex and all of the feelings that come along with it. Co-Writer/Director Sook-Yin Lee threads the needle between all of these themes wonderfully and brings an additional layer of authenticity to the story – she is the real-life Sonny – depicting her memories of what she was doing in-between the panels of Brown’s novel. Where other filmmakers and creators may shy away from self-reflection, Lee hones in on Sonny’s flaws and failings, making the piece feel introspective and often devastating. Her candid matter-of-factness is admirable and is a perfect match for this story.

I also admire the raw nakedness of the characters, both physically and emotionally. It gives weight to every performance and never feels disingenuous or voyeuristic. Our two leads, Beirne and Lê, benefit the most from this as it gives them the space to develop their characters and make them feel genuinely lived-in and real. Their work here is so strong that I often felt like I was no longer watching a film and was watching a documentary instead. Keep an eye out as well for Andrea Werhun who enters late in the film and leaves a lasting impression as one of the sex workers whom Chester engages with. Her real-life work as an escort and exotic dancer informs her performance, and her chemistry with Beirne is palpable.

PAYING FOR IT screens at TIFF’24:

Friday, September 6 at 9:30PM at TIFF Lightbox

Saturday, September 7 at 11:45AM at TIFF Lightbox

#FIRSTLOOK: JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL JOINS SOOK-YIN LEE’S “PAYING FOR IT” AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole) joins the producing team as Executive Producer for Paying for It, the live-action movie adaptation of legendary cartoonist Chester Brown’s best-selling graphic novel, “a comic-strip memoir about being a john.” In a double act of portraiture, Brown’s real-life ex, filmmaker Sook-Yin Lee (Octavio is Dead! Year of the Carnivore), directs and co-writes Paying For It in a singular work of cinematic auto-fiction that is alive, funny, and moving. The film is completing post-production and is readying for the festival circuit.

“Paying For It…is truly groundbreaking…I found myself utterly captivated by [Brown’s] story.”
– Annie Sprinkle, The New York Times Book Review

The fall will also see a re-issue of Paying For It in a new paperback edition from Drawn & Quarterly, with a cover by Brown inspired by the film adaptation, an introduction written by director Lee, expanded notes, movie stills, behind-the-scenes photographs, and artwork that Brown created for the production. Paying For It: The Film Edition is a must-have for fans of Brown and filmmaking alike.

Paying for It stars award-winning comic actor Daniel Beirne (Twentieth Century, Priscilla), emerging actor Emily Lê (Riceboy Sleeps), acclaimed activist/author/performer Andrea Werhun (Modern Whore, Thriving: A Dissociative Reverie), and is produced by Matt Code of Wildling Pictures, Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos of Hawkeye Pictures.

In the late 90s, Chester and Sonny are a long-term, committed, romantic couple. When Sonny wants to redefine their relationship, Chester, a painfully introverted cartoonist, starts sleeping with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy in the process.

Paying for It is an intelligent and affecting work about love, sex and non-monogamy for adults. The film is an adaptation through a female gaze. Lee pushes perceptions around consensual sex work, allowing sex-worker perspectives to shine through.

Paying for It is produced by Matt Code (See for Me, Mary Goes Round, the upcoming Young Werther), Sonya Di Rienzo (Brother, The Young Arsonists, the upcoming The Players), Aeschylus Poulos (Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, Brother, Sleeping Giant), co-produced by Natalie Urquhart (Suits, Stardust), and Sook-Yin Lee, and Executive Produced by John Cameron Mitchell and Daniel Beirne. The screenplay is co-written by Lee and Joanne Sarazen (Backspot, Tammy’s Always Dying). Dylan Gamble (Hot Garbage) and Lee compose the original score.

Paying for It is produced by Wildling Pictures and Hawkeye Pictures with the participation of Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates and in association with Bell Media’s Crave and CBC Films.

ABOUT SOOK-YIN LEE:
Sook-Yin Lee is a Toronto-based filmmaker, musician, actor and broadcaster (CBC, BBC, MuchMusic). She starred in SHORTBUS, the ground-breaking 2SLGBTQ movie directed by John Cameron Mitchell that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film writer and directorial debut, YEAR OF THE CARNIVORE, starring Cristin Milioti, premiered at TIFF. In 2014, Lee won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by a Lead Dramatic Actress in JACK and went on to write and perform UNSAFE for Canadian Stage, which examined questions of censorship and artistic freedom. She won Best Director and Best Picture at the 2018 Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival for OCTAVIO IS DEAD! –a ghost story starring Sarah Gadon and Rosanna Arquette. DEATH AND SICKNESS, her feature movie made with Dylan Gamble, streams on CBC Gem. She acts in DARKEST MIRIAM, executive produced by Charlie Kaufman, and is set to release her experimental comedy REST AND RELAX. Sook-Yin is a music recording artist and film score composer. She contributed songs to Brandon Cronenberg’s horror movies INFINITY POOL and ANTIVIRAL. https://www.sookyinlee.com

ABOUT WILDLING PICTURES:
Wildling Pictures is a film and television production company based in Canada. As an experienced team of filmmakers with a slate spanning series, film and animation, Wildling creates content that travels the world, reaching audiences at home, in theatres, and at festivals. Their past films have played festivals internationally including Sundance, Berlinale, TIFF, SXSW, and Tribeca, and won numerous awards. Wildling’s recent original productions include the romantic comedy YOUNG WERTHER from José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço, starring Alison Pill, Douglas Booth, Iris Apatow and Patrick J. Adams, and the comedy SUZE from Linsey Stewart & Dane Clark, starring Michaela Watkins and Charlie Gillespie set for release in 2024. Its TV slate are the TV series adaptations of bestselling novels A DEATH AT THE PARTY by Amy Stuart and CLARA VOYANT by Rachelle Delaney.

ABOUT HAWKEYE PICTURES:
HAWKEYE PICTURES is an award-winning producer of feature films, documentaries and series. Hawkeye’s projects have been selected at prestigious international festivals including Cannes, TIFF, SXSW, Locarno, BFI London, Busan Clermont-Ferrand and Hot Docs. 2022 was a banner year with both Sheila Pye’s THE YOUNG ARSONISTS and Clement Virgo’s BROTHER world premiering at TIFF and going on to releases in 2023. Critically acclaimed during its festival run, BROTHER was also one of TIFF Canada’s Top 10 films; the winner of a record 12 Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture and of the 2024 NAACP Outstanding International Motion Picture and Outstanding Independent Film Awards. 2023 also launched the award-winning Ireland-Canada co-production THE GRACELESS AGE and the features VALLEY OF EXILE and QUEEN TUT. Most recently the feature documentary MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE, world premiered at TIFF2023 and went on to win the People’s Choice Documentary Award. Upcoming Hawkeye projects include the feature THE PLAYERS by TIFF / Reykjavik Talent alumna Sarah Galea-Davis (CAN YOU WAVE BYE-BYE) and lensed by multi award-winning dop Sara Mishara (TU DORS NICOLE, LES OISEAUX IVRES); and the international docu-series WHO OWNS THE WORLD (PBS International).