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Review

Let the prudish be cautioned: Dear Pillow is one of the most sexually graphic films made – and yet the film contains no nudity or explicit visual depiction of sex. Rather, director Bryan Poyser’s feature debut consists almost entirely of characters discussing sexuality in frank, vivid detail, which Poyser does not employ for prurient titillation purposes, but rather to illuminate the ways in which sexual obsessions control many aspects of our daily lives. Wes (Rusty Kelley), a lonely 17-year-old living with his father, eavesdrops on the sexual phone fantasies of one of his neighbors, in order to turn the calls into letters for Dear Pillow, a Penthouse Forum-styled porn mag. Wes learns that one of the magazine’s writers, the gay, middle-aged former porn filmmaker Dusty (Gary Chason), lives in the same apartment complex, and Dusty takes Wes under his wing to tutor him in the craft of penning smut. Their strange relationship becomes additionally complex with the introduction of Lorna (Viviane Vives), their sexually adventurous landlady, and soon this odd trio becomes entangled in an ever-increasing game of sexual truth or dare.

Texas-based Poyser elicits remarkably courageous performances from his gifted actors. Dear Pillow emerges as a bold and brave examination of erotic fixations and fetishes and the degree to which they dominate our psyches. But think carefully before seeing the film on a first date.

 -- Travis Crawford