Sook-Yin Lee adapts a graphic novel by her ex-boyfriend, Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, about the end of their relationship and Brown’s subsequent decision to start paying for sex. Dan Beirne (The Twentieth Century) plays Brown, and he’s joined by a cast that includes Emily Lê as Lee stand-in Sonny and Andrea Werhun as Yulissa, the sex worker who forms a long-term bond with Brown.
Paying For It is admirably frank, and Lee is unafraid to venture into uncomfortable areas. The film is set in the 90s and aughts, and the progressive-minded curiosity of Brown, Yulissa, and Sonny casts them as well ahead of their time: their questioning of sexual conventions is daring even for 2024. Beirne plays Brown as a calm, curious adventurer who is unwilling to be held back by taboos, and Werhun shines as the ingratiating prostitute who matches his needs, both sexual and social. Lê’s Sonny is likewise a charming character, lovable for her honesty as she navigates the uncertain territory of sex in the contemporary world.
Sept 30: Q&A with director Sook-Yin Lee; actor Emily Lê; author Chester Brown; and editor Anna Catley
Oct 1: Q&A with director Sook-Yin Lee; actor Emily Lê; and author Chester Brown
Community Partner
Daniel Beirne, Emily Lê, Andrea Werhun, Noah Lamanna
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Dan Beirne, John Cameron Mitchell
Producer
Matt Code, Sonya Di Rienzo, Aeschylus Poulos
Screenwriter
Sook-Yin Lee, Joanne Sarazen
Cinematography
Gayle Ye
Editor
Anna Catley
Production Design
Olivia D’Oliveira
Original Music
Dylan Gamble, Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee is a Toronto-based filmmaker, musician, actor, and broadcaster. She starred in Shortbus (2006), the ground-breaking 2SLGBTQ movie that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film writer and directorial debut, Year of the Carnivore (2009), premiered at TIFF. Lee won the 2014 Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by a Lead Dramatic Actress in Jack. In 2019, she wrote and performed Unsafe for Canadian Stage, which examined questions of censorship and artistic freedom. She won Best Director and Best Picture at the 2018 Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival for Octavio is Dead! Lee co-created the experimental comedies Rest and Relax (2024) and Death and Sickness (2020, CBC Gem), as well as contributing songs to Infinity Pool (2023) and Antiviral (2012).
Filmography: Year of the Carnivore (2009); Octavio is Dead! (2018); Death and Sickness (2020); Rest and Relax (2024)
Photo by Dylan Gamble
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Time and Water
Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) turns her attentions from volcanoes to glaciers in this singular, personal collaboration with the Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, who ruminates on the loss of ties to family and to landscape.
Mistura
This foodie film from Peru tells the story of a newly single socialite reinventing herself — and the local cuisine — after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Along the way, she finds support from unexpected places...
Hanami
On the volcanic island Cape Verde, young Nana is on the cusp of self-discovery. When her long-absent mother returns, the lyricism and magic of Nana's childhood take a different shape. Winner of the Best Emerging Director Award, Locarno Film Festival.
Everybody to Kenmure Street
This rousing documentary (100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) never puts a foot wrong as it recreates a tense, prolonged stand-off between the police and the citizens of Glasgow when an Immigration Enforcement squad attempt to arrest two men from their homes.
Another World
This hit anime from Hong Kong gives us an unpredictable, sometimes darkly karmic tale taking place on either side of the afterlife involving a headstrong princess with bad karma and the spirit guide who tries to help her get on a better path.