Paul

Bluesky

Self-help, social media, cleaning and kinks come together in the latest documentary from Denis Côté. Chiefly observational in style – although the dividing line between fiction and fact comes to be ambiguous in this environment – Côté is focused on the unusual world of Paul. Thanks to the reels and videos Paul posts online, the Canadian director is able to let him tell us about himself rather than presenting details through interviews.

In one succinct video, posted for his followers, Paul briefly outlines a troubled history that saw his weight balloon to 300lb and highlights his anxiety in social situations, even as he declares he is “ready to make a change”. That change is discovering a passion for cleaning homes – specifically for dominatrices.

Adopting the label of “Cleaning Simp”, Côté joins Paul as he already has a number of clients. The “simp” element refers to the submissive behaviour he adopts around his customers – all dominatrices – none of whom pay him in the traditional sense but who, we see, offer things that Paul finds of value in terms of improving his life. Among the women he cleans for are Miss Jasmine and Donut Slut and though he leaves their kitchens sparkling like the sun, he is also seen engaging in roleplay with them. These are not overtly sexual encounters but from the BDSM end of the market, with Paul used as a horse or footstool among other things.

In addition to the emotional pleasure Paul gets from these set-ups, they are incidentally helping with his self-improvement – one dom insists that he send photos of his healthy dinners for a week as “homework”, another puts him through push-ups.

Côté has always had an interest in the way that fact can be blended with fiction. His Joy Of Man’s Desiring featured actors playing workers, while A Skin So Soft, though focused on genuine bodybuilders, also drew attention to its construction. Here, in what is probably his most straightforwardly observational film to date, the fictions come baked in. They’re evident not just in the playful, though businesslike, relationships with the dominatrices but also in Paul’s homelife, as he decorates his house in line with this fascination with Alice In Wonderland.

The Lewis Carroll book is a perfect metaphor for some of the almost surreal contradictions in Paul’s life. While there’s no doubting his social anxiety, we can see how in many ways he is the one who is in control of his interactions with the women he cleans for. The online space he occupies is also the perfect contradiction. On the one hand, it offers him a freedom to express himself in a way he would find difficult if not impossible person-to-person but, on the other, it's a gilded cage of sorts, as he notes he sometimes becomes obsessed with his follower count.

Côté largely stands back from all this as a silent, non-judgemental observer, although there is a sense of ‘construction’ at work in one or two of the sequences as the documentarian seeks to emphasise the ‘fantasy’ nature of some of these encounters – possibly gilding the lily, although not quite painting the roses red – they serve to offer insight rather than ridicule. An open-minded and compassionate character study that quietly challenges preconceptions while investing us in Paul’s journey towards his goals.