TIFF 2024 Review: Paying For It – “At times exceedingly awkward and at times tender.”

Courtesy of TIFF

At the beginning of Sook-Yin Lee’s newest film Paying For It, Sonny (Emily Lê), who is laying in bed next to her partner, Chester (Dan Beirne) confesses she may be falling in love with someone else.  Instead of breaking up, she asks for his permission to explore the new relationship further.  Chester, without any protest, just easily agrees.  

And so Paying For It moves forward through the different phases of Sonny and Chester’s relationship and the aftermath of their decision.  They continue living together while Sonny explores new emotional and physical connections, in search of a different partner.  Chester, an introverted cartoonist has difficulty with intimacy.  He even holds his super adorable dog at arm’s length. So, in his newfound freedom, he decides instead to hire sex workers to explore what’s out there and fill a void that’s long been missing in his relationship with Sonny, without any emotion on the line.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Chester Brown, this film is semi-autobiographical for Lee, chronicling the director’s relationship with Brown.  This explains the fact that Sonny is a video DJ at a local music station, just like Lee was on the Canadian Much Music channel. It’s a great throwback for those of us who grew up in Toronto in the 90s, as is the setting of Kensington Market. There are a lot of little touches which will ring nostalgic, even the use of a phone book (when was the last time you saw one of those?).  

Paying For It is an honest look at an unconventional relationship, two people who needed to stay close, even once their romantic partnership was over.  Understanding this happened some time ago, but it’s pretty remarkable that Brown and Lee wanted to put this story out there.  Neither of them comes out unflawed, and yet neither of them is judged in this film.  In fact, Lee does a good job de-stigmatizing sex workers and those who utilize their services.  There’s no right or wrong here.  This was a way for Chester to have a sexual awakening, and have experiences with little emotional risk.  Those women whom he employs aren’t all on screen for long, but they’re all depicted with humanity.

At times exceedingly awkward (do you want to listen to your ex and their new partner have sex the floor above you?) and at times tender, Paying For It allows Brown and Lee’s story to come full circle. By adapting her former partner’s work, Lee allows for her own expression, experience, and feelings to come through.  Being a personal piece, and part of her own history, also means that it’s probably Lee’s best which hopefully means there is more good Canadian content yet to come from this director.  

Paying For It had its world premiere September 6, 2024 at the Toronto International Film Festival.  For more information head to tiff.net