Pornography

2009

1h 53m

Mystery & Thriller

List

29%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

23%

Audience Score

250+ Ratings

A writer and an adult film star discover supernatural forces while searching for a porn star.

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Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Despite marvelously moody visuals and a tantalizing setup, Pornography: A Thriller finally puzzles more than it pleases.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 16, 2010

Full Review

Michelle Orange

Village Voice

Ambitiously layered and almost completely incoherent.

Apr 14, 2010

Full Review

S. James Snyder

Time Out

Taken independently, these chapters probe the thorny porn star-viewer exchange, but Kittredge can't connect the dots into a worthy climax. In other words: all foreplay, no full release.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 14, 2010

Full Review

Maitland McDonagh

Miss FlickChick

Writer-director David Kittredge's spooky, ambitious thriller about the mysterious fate of a gay porn star is equal parts David Lynch, The Fluffer and 8mm.

Apr 23, 2010

Full Review

Matthew Nestel

Boxoffice Magazine

Rated: 0.5/5

Apr 16, 2010

Full Review

Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

Frustratingly elliptical and slightly convoluted, but unconventionally and intriguingly structured enough to maintain suspense amidst its tangled web of blurred realities.

Rated: 7.45/10

Apr 14, 2010

Full Review

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Audience Member

Pornography: A Thriller in an ambitious failure. A single story told in three parts without a real driving force behind it, the film is never able to put the pieces together adequately on screen for the story to make any logical sense. The filmmakers were trying for dream logic, to be fair, so to say they flubbed the editing or the writing is not entirely fair. However, when the mystery takes place over three different time periods and the sole intent of the film is to confuse the viewer, it's not smart; it's frustrating. This would have been a much more interesting film if any of the individual stories had been fleshed out to cover the entire running time (the rise and fall of Mark Anton; the gay porn historian; the actor/writer/director creating his version of what happened to Anton). The actors do all they can with the material even if very little makes sense and the overall story is impossible to piece together. And, lets be honest: a movie about the gay porn industry and named "Pornography" is expected to be, well, titillating. The film never really achieves that, either.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I really enjoyed this movie. Although the story line, gay porno stars who disappear, may not appeal to everyone; I found the movie to be interesting, artistic and freshly appealing. Montgomery did an excellent job portraying Michael Castigan and I really enjoyed his performance. I also liked the fact that the gay men were not portrayed in the typical manner as a bunch of limped wristed, hip swagging, lisp talking fags. Instead, they were wonderfully acted as intelligent, artistic, handsome men who happen to be attracted to other men. It was refreshing and I loved the movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pornography: A Thriller in an ambitious failure. A single story told in three parts without a real driving force behind it, the film is never able to put the pieces together adequately on screen for the story to make any logical sense. The filmmakers were trying for dream logic, to be fair, so to say they flubbed the editing or the writing is not entirely fair. However, when the mystery takes place over three different time periods and the sole intent of the film is to confuse the viewer, it's not smart; it's frustrating. This would have been a much more interesting film if any of the individual stories had been fleshed out to cover the entire running time (the rise and fall of Mark Anton; the gay porn historian; the actor/writer/director creating his version of what happened to Anton). The actors do all they can with the material even if very little makes sense and the overall story is impossible to piece together. And, lets be honest: a movie about the gay porn industry and named "Pornography" is expected to be, well, titillating. The film never really achieves that, either.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It got me hooked up .. but in the end I didn't get it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In less amateurish hands, I sense this could have been more than the intriguing, visually interesting mess it is. I love Lynchian puzzles like this, but not when they collapse in on themselves from narrative incomprehensibility.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Smile for the camera." Why do we watch and what do we really want to see? For the characters in this film, their lives take on a twisted inevitability, where time has no meaning and their existence is in question. The viewer is the key to their survival. The plot is insubstantial. Do they give us what we really want to see? That's all that really matters. It's inevitable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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David Kittredge

Director

Matthew Montgomery

Michael Castigan

Pete Scherer

Matt Stevens

Jared Grey

Mark Anton

Walter Delmar

William

Nick Salamone

Billy

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Synopsis

A writer and an adult film star discover supernatural forces while searching for a porn star.

Director: David Kittredge
Screenwriter: David Kittredge
Production Co: Triple Fire
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 53m

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