Blue Film: The queer cam boy drama starring Boots actor deemed too risqué for mainstream film festivals

Queer cam boy drama Blue Film is inching closer to a theatrical release, months after being rejected by mainstream film festivals for being too controversial.

Blue Film tells the story of a queer, fetish cam worker who connects with a mysterious stranger for a session. In a disturbing turn of events, the stranger turns out to be his old high school teacher, a paedophile who was fired for sexually assaulting a student. 

After initially being deemed too “polarising” for mainstream film festivals, including last year’s Sundance and SXSW festivals, the drama finally got its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) last August.

Now, several months on, the film has been acquired by new distribution company Obscured Releasing and is due to screen in select theatres from May, Variety reports.

Actor Kieron Moore, best known for his roles in Boots, Vampire Academy and Code of Silence, plays the leading role of Aaron Eagle, a young man drawn into on-camera sex work by the lure of easy money. The Menu and American Horror Story actor Reed Birney plays Aaron’s former teacher, Hank Grant, who has paid for Aaron’s services.

Throughout their night together, emotions and tensions run high as they reckon with their shared past. 

Paul Ridd, the director of EIFF, lauded the film for its “extraordinary performances, a tight script and an elegant visual style,” dubbing it an “unusual thriller” which offers “a shocking and highly compelling cinematic experience”.

Other critics who have seen Blue Film during its limited run of film fest appearances have also praised it for “provoking and captivating in equal measure”.

Others have commended Moore’s “stunning, shattering, star-making performance”. At the time of writing, Blue Film has amassed a 90 per cent critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Blue Film is the debut feature film by filmmaker Elliot Tuttle. Speaking to Variety last year, Tuttle explained that he received plenty of feedback from the “powers that be” at prominent festivals who were “scared of the movie” and found it “polarising”.

“It was unbelievable to me. I believe in the quality of the film, and I also had a hard time believing American festivals were this risk-averse,” he said.

“It feels like it kind of took one festival saying, ‘No, it’s OK to program it,’ for lots of other festivals to come on board.”

After EIFF, Blue Film went on to play at other festivals including Florida’s LGBTQ-focussed OUTShine Film Festival.

In a statement the founders of Obscured Releasing, RJ Millard and Bill Guentzler, said that they were impressed by Tuttle’s story for being “simultaneously humane and shocking”.

“He is asking questions no American filmmaker has dared to ask in decades and we’re thrilled to be launching Blue Film in theatres.”

Tuttle said he is “thrilled” to be releasing the film with Obscuring Releasing. “Their passion and commitment to a long life for our film made this an easy choice,” he said, adding: “A lot of people were scared, but Obscured wasn’t.”

Blue Film is in select US theatres from May. A UK release is yet to be confirmed.

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