Mope – A Deranged Yet Fun Experience (Early Review)

Premiering at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Mope follows the insane true story of two mopes, Tom Dong (Sry) and Steve Driver (Stewart-Jarrett), the lowest-level male performers in the porn industry, who set their sights on an impossible dream of being respected porn stars. Over the course of the film, viewers will learn that the story itself is much more than that. However, it is vital that anyone go into it completely blind (that includes avoiding trailers) to truly get the full experience.

Mope is most definitely one of the most graphic, awkward, dark and unexpectedly funny movies in recent memory. The film’s exploitation of the scummiest of the scummy fetish porn industry is perfectly balanced with a unique sense of dark comedy. Easy to say right off the bat that it should probably be avoided for those with a faint heart. Everything from graphic nudity, drug abuse, and violence can be seen at points throughout the film. While these may be a sight to behold, they never necessarily take away from the story.

What truly stands out about Mope are it’s two leads, Sry and Stewart-Jarrett. The duo’s perfect awkward chemistry skyrockets the film to a whole new level. Serving as one of Sry’s only film credits, hopefully we will get to see more of him in the future. Stewart-Jarrett, on the other hand, is an absolute beast. His performance as a mentally-deranged mope shows off his many talents as an actor and gives us yet another reason to be excited for the upcoming Candyman reboot. Meanwhile, Heyne’s is absolutely perfect as his immersive direction and camera work make viewers feel as if they are literally part of these precarious situations. Capturing true stories that are overtly disturbing or graphic can be something hard to do, especially when focus is on someone who doesn’t necessarily deserve a platform. However, Heyne straddles that fine line with ease with no glorification of any kind. The film is simply a look at the harsh reality of the porn industry and its potential emotional and physical repercussions that may have led to these characters ultimate fates.

The only one glaring issue with Mope was when this focused suddenly disappeared after the film’s climax. As a result, the final section of the film just didn’t quite have that same impact. There may have been a few moments where the film dragged that brought down the quality of the film just a touch, for the most part the film was still highly enjoyable and compelling to watch.

At the end of the day, Mope is one of those films where one has to avoid any of its trailers for how much is given in order to go into it in the best possible position for enjoyment. It will certainly be worth it.

*still courtesy of Sundance*

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Jaeden Noel