Twink (2014)

If there's a resurgence in guerilla style indie filmmaking, and I have every hope there is, I've found the leaders. They are U.K. residents Jason Impey, and Wade Radford. Not only are they leading the charge, they're also the architects of said resurgence. With four films in a matter of two years, and their fifth just completed, Impey and Radford show no signs of slowing down. I was fortunate enough to see a screener of their newest collaboration Twink, and it's simply a stunning piece of work.Filmed in a single day, with just a camera, an actor (well two, though one is an off screen voice), and improvised dialog, and made for almost nothing, Twink belies all the notions of what indie and low budget cinema can be. It is what cinema should be.Twink tells the story of Kaden, a former adult film actor, who abruptly left the business, and is on a downward slide. Living in a rundown (though rundown is being generous), room, with peeling wallpaper, and graffiti written across, the movie opens with a documentary filmmaker waking him up, because he's late to start their project. Thus begins 68 minutes of Wade Radford giving an absolutely stunning performance. All too often indie movies are dragged down and made insufferable by bad acting, hackneyed writing, and directors who have a streak of self importance. Twink shuns all of that, and shows two artists at work, creating and making statements on society without bashing you over the head.Filmed as a talking head type documentary, and shot entirely in one setting (with a brief campfire bit which doesn't quite work, but more on that later), Twink could have been a crashing bore. Yet, Radford lights up the screen, not just with his boyish looks and charm, but a wicked smile, and gleaming eyes. You'll want to have your way with him, or smack him, and often at the same time. Radford does such a wonderful job portraying the rakish, downtrodden Kaden (real name Quinn-so he says); that you can almost believe you are watching a documentary. Impey's direction is perfect, and lets the camera act as a fly on the wall, being obtrusive only when necessary. There is a couple of places where the style is broken, such as a drug and alcohol fueled scene where Kaden attempts to seduce the filmmaker, and at the very end, but it works well, and, the film feels cohesive.If there's anything I have a negative feeling about, it's a brief scene shot around a campfire. There's the clichéd shot of Kaden, face half hidden in shadow, as he talks about his youth and family, preceded by his reading a poem (which is from Wade Radford's most excellent poetry collection Tough Blows of A Sleepless Universe), which is then burned, and an endless shot of the paper burning. While it was nice to get out of the cramped dwelling Kaden is reduced to living in, it also seemed unnecessary and a bit overwrought. Still, it's a very short scene, and it is redeemed by Radford's performance.As the movie unfolds, you see Kaden become vulnerable, then building his walls back up. It is clear, he trusts no one, and given his past, you can't blame him. The more he drinks and smokes weed, the more delirious he becomes, and that leads us to the inevitable conclusion. I won't say I was surprised by the ending, as I wasn't. However, it was still a very potent and emotional climax, and a payoff-if you can call it that-which works very, very well.This is not an easy film to watch. Listening to Kaden's story, his fall from grace, and bitterness against the world (seemingly blind to his own willing participation), takes you on an emotional roller- coaster. Impey and Radford, as with all of their work, pull no punches. This is raw, dangerous work. It has something to say, and says it with a big middle finger to not only the adult film industry but the world of media as well.I was not overly familiar with their work prior to Twink (though I've followed Radford on twitter for sometime), but if Twink and the trailers for their other work is anything to judge them by, watch out for these two.

Wade Radford is a captivating presence and in this documentary-themed indie film Twink, it is impossible to take your eyes off of his performance. There isn't a second goes by when he makes you believe he is anyone other than deeply troubled former Twink porn star Kayden, real name Quinn.The gradual revelations that come pulls you deep into his now solitary world of self-torture and deep-seated mental illness. Afflictions he attempts to deal with by self-medicating himself via drink and drugs in his run down bedsit. The erratic behaviour towards the interviewer creates a necessary tension so you're really not quite sure what he might end up doing. This just keeps you hooked all the more so that even though signals are there for the climactic final scene, I still somehow wasn't expecting it.A superb performance from an actor I believe is very much underrated. I must also note regards the music on the film too. It was brilliant and so perfectly captured the overall edgy atmosphere.

Ultra low budget and pretty much ab-libbed all the way through. I needed to watch 3 times to take everything in. A very simple effective premise that works 100%. Wade Radford delivers what is surely a dark, gloomy, sickening and yet utterly engrossing performance. A young British talent that will surely take the independent film sector by storm. It takes something to keep the viewer gripped and the single actor performance is a testament to Wades skill and ability Saying anything more could give something away. Sit back and strap yourself in, but prepare to have your head messed with as you try to process the dark an murky mind set of the film.

Twink, is a fly-on-the-wall documentary, loosely styled on ITV's 7 Up series, where you have the voice of the interviewer, the object of your attention, the interviewee (Kaden / Quinn) and you the viewer, the eyes of the camera. The opening sequence, shows the squalor that Quinn is currently living in, with lots of evidence of drink and drug abuse, which is confirmed later on in the film.Kaden Daydream (the porn industry name of Quinn), shows a strong front that he has got his "shit together" as the interviewer starts to probe with questions exploring how he got into the Porn Industry and especially why he left. But even though Quinn, shows that he is strong, you can see the emotional pain in his eyes and face which hints at the abuse that he has suffered during this time.One of Quinn's defence mechanisms is to shock the person who he sees as a threat. Particularly when he perceives them getting close to a truth that he is neither willing to face nor able to deal with. Particularly when you as the viewer can clearly see that abuse has taken place. You, as the viewer also find yourself wishing Quinn to open up and talk about it, just to start the healing process and it becomes almost painful to watch every time he brings the shutters down on you.Quinn's description of how he was at the bottom of the food chain and everybody else was making money of the back of his "works" was hard and uncomfortable to listen to, as it shadowed a number of professions in life that do exactly the same thing, not just the sex industry.Quinn's convincing and damning narrative on how poor the "actors" really are, as the "glamorous" lifestyle that they are provided for, which is paid for by "others" was the only real payment and the moment that you start to lose your "Twink" looks, is the moment that nobody wants to touch you. Quinn clearly feels hard done by, as everybody above him has made so much money off the back of his labours, whilst he has been left in the gutter.It is at this point that you start to see another character appear, the character that is Kaden Daydream. Here, you start to feel that this heart-breaking young man actually has some deep-seated psychological problems. You see "Kaden" constantly trying to turn the tables on the interviewer, as the film starts to approach the root cause of his pain.Again, you see "Kaden" reverting to type, doing his utmost to shock and manoeuvre the interviewer into a position so he can end the interview and therefore the self-revelations. You also see the true conflict as control of Quinn passes back and forth, just like an emotional tug of war and most shockingly of all to me as a viewer, was the total self-loathing that Kaden/Quinn has for himself.The big reveal as to what happened to Quinn is when filming returns and they are sitting outside, next to a camp-fire and Quinn reads some poetry. The story that is being relayed in the poetry is clearly what has happened to Quinn. The "Twinky Long Legs" poem is upsetting to listen to, but of anything that Quinn says during this film, he is speaking from the heart when he reads that poem. Although, to me, it was shocking when he burned the pages afterwards.The interviewer picks up on things that have happened during Quinn's childhood and when he starts to question him you see Kaden make an appearance again and you also see that Quinn's fall from grace in "that" industry has left him associating company / companionship with sex.It is deeply upsetting to see the Kaden's character make a dominant return at the end, particularly when the body dimorphism facet of his personality appears and the resultant conflict between what he feels he should look like and what he actually looks like (bloody good looking and normal, in my opinion), result in so much blood.(SPOILER ALERT) It is as this point that I, as a viewer have to state that the film was spoilt for me. Any real documentary maker would not stand there, keep filming and allow the person to effectively kill himself, particularly with a homo-erotic gush of blood. I feel it would have been far more believable if the camera was left with Kaden/Quinn to do his lead out, to film that sequence for himself or if it was a drug & alcohol fuelled fantasy, that Kaden imagines, but later is seen asleep in his bed. But this is only my opinion, others will probably be happy with the ending.Overall though, we all deep down know that there is a dark and seedy element in the porn industry where people are used and abused, making other people rich, but when they have reached the end of their very short lived careers, they are abandoned as everyone has got what they want. Wade Radford's acting is very, very realistic in this film and very scary in parts. I feel that this is Wade's most important film to date and carries an important social message and commentary.