Lalo (Lalo Santos) is an influencer who makes his money by posting naked photos and videos of sex acts online. He spends his days working in a factory in Oaxaca, Mexico and he keeps his exploits secret from both his co-workers and his family. Interested in getting into porn so he can make more money, Lalo is drawn into a new world where he begins to earn real money but can’t escape from the loneliness he feels inside.
‘Pornomelancholia’ is a work of docu-fiction by Argentine director Manuel Abramovich that features real-life porn star Lalo Santos as its subject. The film catches you off-guard by opening with a shot of Lalo stood in a busy street, where he breaks down into uncontrollable sobs. What’s the source of his pain and misery? Well, that’s one of the issues with the film because we never really find out. While Lalo is painted as a man who feels very lonely due to his secret side-gigs, there’s no really deep exploration of who he is or why he feels the detachment and sadness that he does.
When we first meet Lalo he’s trying to take erotic pictures while at work, and throughout the film we see his world via his smartphone as he responds to social media comments, posts new content and tries to arrange hook-ups. A chance opportunity to get into porn arises and before you know it, Lalo is on the set of a high-budget gay porn film based on the Mexican Revolution. Abramovich, to his credit, doesn’t sexualise Lalo or the other actors, instead choosing to cut away when things start to get explicit. The camera lingers cutting out the majority of the action, before the sounds you hear fill in the picture.
As Lalo begins to bond with his fellow cast-mates, the men have frank conversations about the reality of the life they’ve chosen and they go into the ins-and-outs of their work, as well as HIV and AIDS, something that has already touched upon Lalo’s life. Over the course of the film we see Lalo at doctor’s appointments dealing with his own health, and those scenes offer a real contrast to the moments when he’s being told to thrust his sex organ harder into a cast-mate that appears to be deriving no pleasure from the experience.
‘Pornomelancholia’ is certainly an interesting feature, and it’s one that asks more questions than it answers. Essentially it’s a look into the world of a sex worker and the difficulties that come with that, but its lack of depth stops it from ever being something you can truly connect with. You can’t help but feel that we’re not completely seeing the real Lalo, which may be in part due to the blend of documentary and fiction that Abramovich has created.
Cast: Lalo Santos Director: Manuel Abramovich Writers: Manuel Abramovich, Fernando Krapp and PÃo Longo Certificate: 18 Duration: 98 mins Released by: Peccadillo Pictures Release date: 29th January 2024 Buy ‘Pornomelancholia’ now
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