Toronto International Film Festival 2024: PAYING FOR IT

I wasn’t sure how I initially felt about my first TIFF film of the year. But, as the story unfolded and I spent some time living with these characters, I became entranced with their journeys. They had won me over.

Paying For It isn’t the movie you’d expect.

But, it’s one that if given the chance- you might love.

Trying Something New

In Canada in the 1990s, cartoonist Chester Brown and filmmaker/musician Sook-Yin Lee were in a romantic relationship. When she wanted to see other people, he eventually started seeing sex workers. In 2011 he wrote a graphic novel of the same name chronicling his story. Now, Sook-Yin Lee has made this into a film.

That film follows Chester (Dan Beirne) and Sonny (Emily Lê) as they navigate their versions of intimacy while remaining close (even still living together for a long time).

If you take out of the equation the story itself, the fact that this is traced from experience to page to screen, with two versions created singularly by a previous partner, that’s an incredible feat. It’s a real-life story and a wonderful jumble of creative energy.

Paying For It doesn’t have to make you like the characters. It doesn’t need you to approve or analyze their decisions. It just shares an experience. That may sound simplistic, but it is anything but. This is a film that remains inventively quirky and endearingly honest. These are people, and their stories are ultimately relatable. Love and romance can be a messy road, and the film doesn’t shy away from showing that path in abundant detail.

What sets this story apart, besides the fact that it is based on real stories that aren’t weaved for some particular message, is the evolution of Chester’s life and the confidence that comes with his own understanding of what he wants and how to achieve it. It also shows Sonny through her various relationships and her attempt to find herself in her career and on her own.

What Sook-Yin Lee brings to the cinematic version of the story is the feminine side, the nurturing of these two characters relationship, which has continued. There is a unique sort of connection that these two share and it is captured organically in the film. In many ways, this is a film about sex as much as it is about the separation from romance, and as such, the sex scenes are handled in a starkly portrayed manner.

Our leads are not without their flaws and their uncertainties. The performances are terrific, with a wonderful blend of comedy and poignancy. I sometimes wish Sonny had more screen time and wished that the film didn’t have a third-act lull, but overall the film is a unique foray into the space. Emily Lê is especially delightful and brings an energy to the screen.

Conclusion

I found Paying For It to be a welcome surprise and a revelation in its version of storytelling. This was an unexpected and comical disclosure of one couple’s path that leaves a lingering impression.

Paying For It premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival.