A24 is one of the best studios producing films in Hollywood at the moment. Their output has produced some of my favourite films in recent years with titles such as: 'The Disaster Artist', 'Hereditary', 'Midsommar', 'The Witch', 'The Lighthouse' and 2022's 'Red Rocket'. 'Red Rocket' is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sean Baker (The Florida Project & Tangerine), tackling the porn industry in this dramedy. Simon Rex plays a washed-up porn star who is out looking for redemption. Baker has a knack for telling real and raw stories, to the backdrop of a real place or in this case industry. Actor Simon Rex also began his acting career in the adult entertainment industry, so he also had experience here. Without hearing too much about this film, knowing that writer/director was helming such a project and Simon Rex was the lead here, I was invested. 'Red Rocket' might just be Baker's masterpiece. The film hits all of the right notes, telling a slice of life story full of heart and real, raw emotion. Simon Rex is fantastic as Mikey Saber, giving easily a career best performance. Rex gives a very realistic and grounded performance here, and as someone who hasn't really liked his work before, I thought he was great and would also highly recommend the A24 podcast episode listening to him speak on the film and his personal connection with the role. Sean Baker's direction here is raw and unfiltered, which is on-brand for his style of filmmaking. His films in the past have used guerilla-style filmmaking techniques to capture the essence of life, capturing small little moments of realism in a larger story, to give his films an authentic look. It is a great way to tell a story like this as it puts the audience in the thick of the story and the situation. Baker is fantastic at character pieces. 'Red Rocket' is one of the best films of the year so far. Its equal parts sad as it is endearing. Simon Rex gives a great lead turn here and I hope this sparks an exciting new direction for the actor moving forward. I really liked this one and would recommend it to film fans wanting to watch something a little different. Pick up a copy today from your local Sanity or online. Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here

Absolutely boring

Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) travels by bus arriving back in his hometown located Texas City with only $22 in his wallet.  Once he arrives in town, he knocks on the door to his wife's house, Lexi (Bree Elrod), who lives with her mother.  Covered in many bruises and scars resulting from getting into recent trouble, Mikey comes crawling home desperate for another chance at life.  He makes big promises of helping around the house and even promises that if he can get room to stay, he'll get clean with his life, start earning money and become the man he should have always been. With determination under his belt, he begins seeking work around the local community. Sadly, due to working as a porn-star for the last seventeen years, he has limited experience, and Mikey gets rejected no matter his sales pitch and passion to work in a new job. Soon Mikey finds himself falling back into some of his old habits and decides to make it big by becoming a drugs dealer. While things start looking up for Mikey as he earns good cash, his eyes and attention are soon caught by a seventeen-year-old girl who works at the local doughnut shop. Her name is Raylee aka Strawberry (Suzanna Son). Red Rocket is best classed as a dark comedy with scenes that will shock audiences with its humour.  The film also includes high volumes of nudity and foul language (and funny enough, loads of bike riding).  It doesn't take long while watching this film to discover the biggest feature is the performance of actor Simon Rex who plays the lead Mikey.  I feel Simon Rex delivers his best role on screen in this performance.  Filled with loads of energy, quirks, and great line delivery, the character he plays is extremely likeable even while he many poor choices.  Audiences will also find themselves cheering the lead on to get his life back on track and invested to see the outcomes of all his choices. Overall, this is a fun film by director Sean Baker.  With a solid and fun script packed with witty dialogue, Red Rocket is wild and waggish right from the start.  Leading actor Simon Rex shines and is extremely hilarious for the entire runtime. Even when the lead character makes bad choices, he's still highly likeable, and again, that's a credit to actor Simon Rex.  Red Rocket is a comedy that will either leave you feeling shocked or successfully make you feel somewhat dirty inside. I certainly felt all kinds of emotions, and I can't deny some moments were uncomfortable to see.  As a dark comedy, there are many movie lovers who I'm sure will enjoy this film like a tasty doughnut with pink frosting. *This review has been written for Sanity. For more reviews from Walkden Entertainment, check out the link here: www.walkdenentertainment.com