The Last Porno Show

Kire Paputts' The Last Porno Show introduces us to Wayne (Nathaniel Chadwick), a struggling actor who was traumatized as a child while living with his father Al (Christian Aldo), whom he hasn't seen in years. Now a bit of an emotional mess, Wayne is seriously uninterested when a lawyer tells him Al has died and left him his proudest possession: the decaying porn cinema they used to live above. Initially Wayne wants to sell it but he's also pursuing a part in a movie, and realizes his memories of Al and their life together may help with the role. But, as someone tells Wayne, "That's the thing about memories; they get weird" — and soon Wayne's part and his painful past threaten to consume him. Outrageous and funny, raunchy and raw, The Last Porno Show is also a tortured, heartfelt exploration of loss. The trauma isn't just Wayne's, but the city's as well. Like much gentrification, the loss of the cinema (and the apartments above it) threatens to wreak havoc on its small, rundown neighbourhood. (Toronto International Film Festival)