Truly Naked is daring and explicit, yet always sensitive in its complex discourse. It is a diligently researched film that is both brave and bold in its exploration of modern masculinity, the female gaze, porn, intimacy and adolescent psychology as it pushes the boundaries of coming-of-age storytelling.
Before the rise of the Internet age, restricted print media, grainy 16mm movies in adult theatres and videos in adult stores provided pornography with a home. Pornography wasn’t hidden from sight, but it was an industry shrouded in secrecy, with little to no access for young people, other than tatty second-hand magazines or bootleg videos traded outside of the school gates. However, in the years since the internet, and particularly since the rise of social media, porn has become far more open, accessible and available to young people. Up until recent government changes requiring age verification in the UK, young people could easily stream pornographic content, and even with verification, many would argue that teenagers have found ways to bypass the restrictions.
Some would argue that this has demystified sex for teenagers and encouraged open discussion; others will argue that for young people in minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ community, it has enabled them to learn about sex. But, for all those arguments, one truth remains: pornography is staged sex that plays to the desires (mainly of men) and creates false notions of what physical intimacy is. So what effect does this have on the developing teenage mind? And what effect has internet porn had on our teenagers’ opinions, expectations and views of sexual intimacy?
It’s a brave director who chooses not only to tackle the questions above, but also to investigate the world of homemade amateur porn through the eyes of two teenagers. It is, therefore, no wonder that Dutch director Muriel d’Ansembourg’s Truly Naked faced years in development before finally securing funding for production. The bravery on display in this unflinching drama, both in direction, cinematography and performances, is abundantly evident from the opening scenes, as we join a pornographic shoot in the bedroom of a small flat.
As the sex reaches its climax, the person behind the camera is revealed to be Alec (Caolán O’Gorman), an introverted and soft-spoken teenager. While the person in front of the camera is revealed to be Alec’s dad, Dylan (Andrew Howard) and his long-time porn partner Lizzie (Alessa Savage).
As the porn shoot ends, it’s time for tea, as Alec considers his first day at a new school in their new seaside home, far away from his and his dad’s previous life in London, just a few months before. For Alec, this seaside town offers another fresh start and another opportunity to attend a school where nobody knows what his dad does. Watching this boy go from instructing and directing a porn shoot to hurriedly eating breakfast, then pulling on his school jumper, and walking into a classroom may be one of the most fascinating and challenging transitions in film I have seen this year.
Alec isn’t your average post-16 student, and he isn’t just Dylan’s son. He is far more mature than the other boys at school. Alec values women and clearly sees himself as understanding of the female experience, but he is nervous and unsure of how to interact with them outside of a porn set. He is a talented photographer, videographer, designer, and editor. Yet he is also still a teenage boy, uncertain of the world around him, and eager for his own first sexual experiences.
For Alec and his dad, pornography is the family business. It is a business founded years ago by Alec’s mum and dad. After her death, Alec would eventually become the producer and camera operator in an extended found family of adult female actors who kept him safe. It’s a father-son relationship many would label as exploitative or even abusive, but in Truly Naked, those simple labels do not apply.
Dylan loves his son and would do anything to protect him. He sees the business as the security that puts food on the table, and his job as the cement that keeps them together. What he doesn’t see, or chooses not to see, is that he has become reliant on his son to maintain his chosen business, with little thought to the pressure on his young shoulders, or the effect that business may have had on his ability to embrace connection and find intimacy with the opposite sex.
When Alec is partnered with fellow student Nina (Safiya Benaddi), a girl passionate about women’s rights, for a school project exploring porn addiction, he finds her strength and passion alluring. Yet he also knows his secret life outside school could destroy their connection before it even starts. As their relationship develops, Nina allows Alec to explore intimacy and closeness away from the camera, inviting him to embrace his vulnerability in a way he has never experienced before. But as Alec begins to question the profession he grew up in and his dad’s beliefs and values, Nina is about to discover Alec’s secret. Will she walk away, or embrace him?
Muriel d’Ansembourg has a lot to unpack in a tight 102-minute runtime, from discussions on porn and masculinity, to adolescent development and the role porn plays in building a teenager’s view of sex and sexuality, through to the female experience of porn. It’s a tough ask to unpack all of this, and at times Truly Naked raises discussions only to drop them due to runtime restrictions. However, the bravery of the questions it poses and the power of the performances at its heart more than make up for its inability to fully tackle every urgent theme.
Newcomers Caolán O’Gorman and Safiya Benaddi are the glue that holds this picture together. Their on-screen chemistry is outstanding, and their honest, raw performances are full of teenage anxiety, hormonal energy, passion, and uncertainty. Even when elements of the screenplay feel far too contrived, O’Gorman and Benaddi keep us emotionally invested in this unique coming-of-age journey for both Alec and Nina.
Muriel d’Ansembourg isn’t interested in sweeping judgments or simple answers to the questions she raises in Truly Naked. While the screenplay falters at times, it treats the urgent contemporary discussions honestly and openly, in a manner many other films would shy away from. Here, Truly Naked is daring and explicit, yet always sensitive in its complex discourse. It is a diligently researched film that is both brave and bold in its exploration of modern masculinity, the female gaze, porn, intimacy and adolescent psychology as it pushes the boundaries of coming-of-age storytelling in an online world that is now under the microscope like never before.
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