Chimney Sweep

‘PVT-CHAT’: Fantasia Assessment | Opinions

Dir / scr. Ben Hozie. US. 2020. 81 min.

Any doubt about the star potential of Uncut Gems breakthrough talent Julia Fox should be dispelled by her effortlessly conspicuous twist as a sex cam dominatrix in PVT CHAT. She plays Scarlett, the center of an all-consuming obsession for professional online gamer Jack (Peter Vack). When Jack is convinced that he has seen Scarlett, who claims to live in San Francisco, shopping in Manhattan’s Chinatown, he tries to make a deal with her – if he can get photographic proof that she is in New York, she must accompany him to Paris for a romantic trip. Of course, the concept of romance is subjective when a relationship is filtered through multiple layers of deception and a computer screen and consists in one party paying the other to practically put cigarettes on its tongue.

Bratty attitude and rough energy to spare

Written, directed, shot and edited by Ben Hozie, better known as the front man and co-founder of the NYC art punk band Bodega, the film could be seen as a thematic accompaniment to Bodega’s debut album “Endless Scroll”. Both satirize a moment in which all connections are conveyed through a digital screen, both have a cheeky demeanor and raw energy to give away. The movie’s hip references go beyond Hozie and Fox: Buddy Duress, another Safdie Brothers alumni, gets a memorable cameo, and the score is by Austin Brown of Parquet Courts. Deliberately unpolished in its approach and happily uninhibited when it comes to sexual niche practices – less mumblecore than mumblehardcore – the film is intended to arouse interest beyond the festival circle. Because of its themes, it is particularly suitable for a VOD platform, but art-house distribution is out of the question.

The main challenge of the film – and one that it doesn’t quite live up to – is to turn Jack, a grubby Saddo with no limits, an obligation to lie and a tendency to underestimated risks, into a reasonably likeable main character. He’s not a very good player, it turns out. But Vack almost gets away with it, giving the character a disarmingly hapless stupidity that manifests itself in clumsy bragging rights – “That’s why they call me Blackjack Jack!” – and a gauche need for Scarlett’s approval. Meanwhile, the character of Scarlett dodges the darker aspects of sex work: she has agency, self-respect, and apparently a healthy level of job satisfaction by punishing and humiliating her online slaves. Fox, who worked as a dominatrix herself, is a magnetic screen presence.

But while great one-on-one scenes, like the banter that turns into a brawl between Jack and Larry (Duress) at a gallery opening, and the moment Scarlett realizes her boyfriend’s piece is based on her life, have a growling authenticity, t always flow together to form a coherent whole. The storytelling and the fragile handheld camera, reminiscent of the ups and downs of Jack’s everyday life, have a ragged, hoof-focused quality.

Does the film have anything new to say about virtual connections? Probably not. But even if it’s not the most conventional love story, it still leaves us the possibility that, despite all the lies, stalking, and cheating, there is ultimately an honesty in the relationship between Scarlett and Jack that no one has achieved with any other partner.

Production company / international distribution: Pretorius Pictures, pretoriuspicturesnyc@gmail.com

Producer: Oliver David

Camera: Ben Hozie

Editor: Ben Hozie

Production Design: Kit Sheridan

Music: Austin Brown

Leading actors: Julia Fox, Peter Vack, Buddy Duress, Nikki Belfiglio, Kevin Moccia, Keith Poulsom

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