In many traditions (as for a long time in the UK), acting is closely associated with sex work. This isn’t just because of the notion of people being on display. At a more fundamental level, it’s about the way that workers in both professions make their bodies available for the performance of other people’s fantasies. Tiago Teixeira’s Custom, which screened as part of Glasgow Frightfest 2024, follows a couple who merge the two. Unable to fund themselves purely through their art, Harriet (Abigail Hardingham) and Jasper (Rowan Polonski) have turned their creative talents to making pornographic videos on a custom basis, doing whatever the client wants. Mostly that’s a bit of mild, stage-managed bdsm, but they are about to get an unusual request that will change everything.
In the internet age, the long-cherished Western notion that body and mind are separate domains is coming under increasing pressure.
In the internet age, the long-cherished Western notion that body and mind are separate domains is coming under increasing pressure.
- 3/16/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Stars: Abigail Hardingham, Rowan Polonski, Brad Moore, Samantha Steel | Written and Directed by Tiago Teixeira
Jasper and Harriet are arthouse pornographers struggling to make ends meet. Their stock in trade is producing custom-made erotic films for an exclusive clientele into the forbidden, the shocking and the strange. As they hit rock bottom, that’s when they encounter ‘The Audience’, a mysterious client offering life-changing money to perform strange rituals on videotape.
Custom is a deep dive into the world of online sex work – the custom of the title referring to video requests from paying clients, willing fork over money to have their sexual fantasies played out on camera, in a film that tries So hard to be a Lynchian nightmare.
This is a very timely film And subject matter given the explosion of sites like Onlyfans and Fansly and how people are making a living from them outside of the traditional 9 to 5 workday narrative.
Jasper and Harriet are arthouse pornographers struggling to make ends meet. Their stock in trade is producing custom-made erotic films for an exclusive clientele into the forbidden, the shocking and the strange. As they hit rock bottom, that’s when they encounter ‘The Audience’, a mysterious client offering life-changing money to perform strange rituals on videotape.
Custom is a deep dive into the world of online sex work – the custom of the title referring to video requests from paying clients, willing fork over money to have their sexual fantasies played out on camera, in a film that tries So hard to be a Lynchian nightmare.
This is a very timely film And subject matter given the explosion of sites like Onlyfans and Fansly and how people are making a living from them outside of the traditional 9 to 5 workday narrative.
- 3/14/2024
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Custom Photo: Frightfest
As anyone who has ever attended a Frightfest event will tell you, the UK’s horror filmmaking scene is a close-knit community. One is always hearing about hew films on the grapevine, and it’s a delight when they live up to their promise. I first heard about Custom a few months ago when talking with Andy Edwards about his film Punch. He’s a producer on this one, and was keen to introduce me to first time feature director Tiago Teixeira.
The film follows young couple Harriet (Abigail Hardingham) and Jasper (Rowan Polonski), who finance their artistic work by making custom porn videos. It’s all well and good until they are approached by a client who has some unusual requests, leading them into a world which has more to do with ritual magic than simple sexual fantasy, and which leads them into unexpected places. It would eventually screen as.
As anyone who has ever attended a Frightfest event will tell you, the UK’s horror filmmaking scene is a close-knit community. One is always hearing about hew films on the grapevine, and it’s a delight when they live up to their promise. I first heard about Custom a few months ago when talking with Andy Edwards about his film Punch. He’s a producer on this one, and was keen to introduce me to first time feature director Tiago Teixeira.
The film follows young couple Harriet (Abigail Hardingham) and Jasper (Rowan Polonski), who finance their artistic work by making custom porn videos. It’s all well and good until they are approached by a client who has some unusual requests, leading them into a world which has more to do with ritual magic than simple sexual fantasy, and which leads them into unexpected places. It would eventually screen as.
- 3/9/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There’re countless moments throughout Tiago Teixeira’s feature debut Custom that play like Barker, Nakata or early Cronenberg. Haunting, sexy, deeply disturbing stuff. Icky, sticky seediness, grained-up and stamped onto videotape, like The Ring made for OnlyFans. Deeply dour, but in a good way.
A micro-budget stab at tackling the nefarious underbelly of online sex work, Custom is – much like Teixeira’s shorts (FrightFest alums Dog Skin and Molar in particular) – a mood piece; more interested and involved with its world and themes than its characters. Although it must be said that leads Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever) and Rowan Polonski (Kingsman) get thoroughly stuck in as artsy couple Harriet and Jasper; amateur pornographers who find themselves tangled up in a bizarre, VHS-themed nightmare, courtesy of their newest client.
But that’s just about all the plot we get. Teixeira instead using much of the mystery as more of a...
A micro-budget stab at tackling the nefarious underbelly of online sex work, Custom is – much like Teixeira’s shorts (FrightFest alums Dog Skin and Molar in particular) – a mood piece; more interested and involved with its world and themes than its characters. Although it must be said that leads Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever) and Rowan Polonski (Kingsman) get thoroughly stuck in as artsy couple Harriet and Jasper; amateur pornographers who find themselves tangled up in a bizarre, VHS-themed nightmare, courtesy of their newest client.
But that’s just about all the plot we get. Teixeira instead using much of the mystery as more of a...
- 3/9/2024
- by Ben Robins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
With her legendary skill set and that seemingly insatiable taste for adventure, Lara Croft ranks among the best video game characters in history. Since her debut in ’96, the pixelated heroine has inspired countless titles and two full-blown feature films, both of which were headed up by Angelina Jolie.
But now, it’s time for a new Tomb Raider to enter the fold. Alicia Vikander, star of The Danish Girl and Ex Machina, takes point as Miss Croft, who embarks on a journey to find her missing father – or what’s left of him. It’s a quest that leads our titular character all the way to a far-flung island off the coast of Japan, and we imagine it’s here where Warner’s Tomb Raider movie will most resemble the rebooted video game franchise on which it is based.
Developed by Crystal Dynamics, the recent Tomb Raider games have married the fantastical with a grounded,...
But now, it’s time for a new Tomb Raider to enter the fold. Alicia Vikander, star of The Danish Girl and Ex Machina, takes point as Miss Croft, who embarks on a journey to find her missing father – or what’s left of him. It’s a quest that leads our titular character all the way to a far-flung island off the coast of Japan, and we imagine it’s here where Warner’s Tomb Raider movie will most resemble the rebooted video game franchise on which it is based.
Developed by Crystal Dynamics, the recent Tomb Raider games have married the fantastical with a grounded,...
- 9/19/2017
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
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