Pornography: A Thriller
Reel Affirmations 2009
Review by Sean Bugg
Rating: 
(4 out of 5)
Sunday, 10/18/2009, 9:00 PM
Feature presentation, $10 at Shakespeare Theatre’s Harman Center for the Arts
NOT THAT ANYONE ever thought to ask before, but what happens when you mix up the David Lynch’s reality-shifting Lost Highway, the supernatural horror of The Ring, the torture-and-snuff aesthetic of Saw and early ’90s gay porn?
Well, you’d get Pornography, a post-modern meta-thriller about the fate of Mark Anton, a fresh-faced boy next door who burst on the videotape porn movie scene only to burn out and disappear in mysterious circumstances. What happens to Mark reverberates over 14 years, eventually pulling in both Michael, a New York writer working on a history of gay pornography, and Matt, a Los Angeles gay porn star who really just wants to direct.
Pornography starts off extremely slow and repetitive, as Matt slowly twists his way to a fateful interview with a mysterious client, an interview that suddenly turns horrifying and ambiguous. It’s a frustrating first act, but in retrospect largely necessary as director David Kittredge begins moving the pieces of the puzzle together.
There are some intensely creepy moments on hand, as when Michael opens a mysterious envelope to pull out a photo — a photo of himself pulling the photo out of the envelope, ad infinitum. Matt, who is inspired by a series of dreams to write the script for The Mark Anton Story, plays the lead role in the film only to find the barrier between his world and Mark’s has grown frighteningly porous.
Complicated and at time terrifying, Pornography doesn’t offer a simple answer to its mysteries. But if you’re sitting in the audience, watching, you may be guilty as charged.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
