One of the most graphic, gulp-inducing documentaries of 2015, Chemsex introduces us to a group of anguished men who have become addicted to having intercourse while high on drugs such as crystal meth and GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate). The film’s thesis is that these guys are basically self-harming (the sex is often abusive) and that they are doing this because the gay community hasn’t come to terms with the trauma of HIV.
The man who puts forward this argument is NHS counsellor David Stuart. The film-makers are clearly (and rightly) impressed by Stuart’s work at his London clinic but their desire to put together a watchable, attention-grabbing movie means all sorts of issues get confused. That a significant number of men seek out intercourse that will result in them getting “pozzed up” (infected with the virus) is fascinating and deserves a whole film in itself.
Here’s the thing, though: by lumping in such individuals with promiscuous drug-users who neither have Aids nor want to get it, directors William Fairman and Max Gogarty risk pathologising — or, at the very least, infantalising — any gay man who wants to combine sex, drugs and/or S&M.
There are unnecessary shots (a man receives a blowjob while on Grindr; men wearing nipple chains gyrate at a party) that seem designed to titillate viewers. It’s a pleasure and an honour to spend time with the interviewees (Miguel, Enrique and Simon are especially adorable, articulate and open) but there’s something disingenuous about Chemsex. Like the 1936 propaganda movie Reefer Madness, it doesn’t seem quite on the level.
Cert 18, 80 mins
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