In hidden basements, bedrooms and bars across London, "Chemsex" is a documentary that exposes frankly and intimately a dark side to modern gay life. Traversing an underworld of intravenous d... Read allIn hidden basements, bedrooms and bars across London, "Chemsex" is a documentary that exposes frankly and intimately a dark side to modern gay life. Traversing an underworld of intravenous drug use and weekend-long sex parties, "Chemsex" tells the story of several men struggling ... Read allIn hidden basements, bedrooms and bars across London, "Chemsex" is a documentary that exposes frankly and intimately a dark side to modern gay life. Traversing an underworld of intravenous drug use and weekend-long sex parties, "Chemsex" tells the story of several men struggling to make it out of 'the scene' alive - and one health worker who has made it his mission to... Read all
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- Awards
- 1 nomination total
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Having been a participant through the highs and lows of weekend parties where sex, drugs, and rock and roll, have higher attendance numbers than all churches combined, I was interested to watch this documentary.
Interested, but ultimately disgusted. Not by the practices portrayed, but by the lies and misdirection of some of the participants in the interviews. While I found most of the documentary to be factual, it is ultimately a vehicle to package lies of the serious underbelly of criminal level harassment that takes place for those perceived to be vulnerable and easily influenced. The goals being to control and modify people's personalities and behaviours. There is a systematic, extremely well oiled machine at work underneath the glamour and seediness of these events where those who do not comply are systematically destroyed, not through the use of drugs and sex and online dating apps (although they play a major part) but by a sinister, vindictive, cruel system of psychological and physical abuse whose tools of practice are designed to force their subjects to display signs of mental disease. The goal being to force subjects into the mental health system so that when they awake to the truth of the abuse they can be discredited as being nothing more than drug users with mental illness. For those who either believe they are suffering from mental illness under a short term drug induced psychosis the abuse stops, or for those who keep quiet about the subject, but for those who refuse to accept the abuse, who speak out in order to try and alleviate the life destroying pain this system encourages and rewards, the abuse continues in order to claim the short term drug induced psychosis is actually schizophrenia - again with the sole purpose of discrediting the person who speaks out (even if they no longer use drugs). To this end the abusers stop at nothing - 24/7 monitoring and harassment to cause sleep deprivation, and then isolation from society where their message may be heard.
While I doubt this review will be seen or believed by anyone other than those involved, I need to express my disgust at those in this documentary, several of whom I have met, as they are so much worse than the cruellest of harassers as they have allowed themselves to be used to perpetuate a lie which ensures the continuation of suffering and destruction of innocent people and their families. It is cowardice and corruption of the highest order and I for one will never turn a blind eye to the practice and will do what ever I can to bring this abuse to light and end the unjust suffering of people who simply do not deserve it. End the cycle of abuse - speak our, or if you dont have the balls for that, dont participate.
Nobody wants to talk about the issues arising within the gay community and the now mainstream use of PreP which gives men who don't have HIV the freedom to have unprotected sex - should they choose to.
Opening up their chances to then becoming prone to uninhibited situations involving methamphetamines, which in turn has the potential to alter their state of mind, making them forget to take the required drugs and possibly seroconvert.
Many people won't agree with this, but from the experiences of men in Sydney, Australia, this is EXACTLY what is happening in gay communities.
The stories to camera are often extremely moving as most of the men suffer with the dual addiction of the cravings for the drug and more importantly the feeling that they are having the best sex ever whilst intoxicated. One man says 'if I have to spend the rest of my life sober then euthanize me now'. There in lies the rub. The problems come with the added risk of STI's via the sharing of needles and unprotected sex – especially with strangers in back rooms, saunas etc. There are scenes of actual sex in this film too and nudity.
Now this also features the work of an outreach programme located at 56 Dean Street in London's Soho and its commendable work. It is not the only programme though and there are a lot of people that can offer help. This could have been emphasised more in the film. Also it chose to tell the dark stories – we do not have anyone who is a recreational user and manages to get by having a fulfilled life etc which may have added balance. We all get that 'drugs are bad umkay'.
That said I am not condoning drug taking but I also do not want to denigrate a chosen life style if done in a safe and moderate way. Ultimately this is an engaging film that does have its heart in the right place and if it can help prevent men from having such calamitous and life changing experiences then it is all for the good. This is a good one to get for a rental – recommended.
This is a controversial and highly explicit documentary film that features a lot of sex scenes and drug taking scenes. What is more disturbing is the fact that the individuals interviewed in the film actually do much harm to themselves by their chosen lifestyle, yet they see good rather than destruction resulting from it. Then a club owner talks about how patrons collapse into a coma in his establishment because of drugs. The hedonism and subsequent self destruction that results from drug use is painful and saddening to me. This film is an eye opener for alternative lifestyles, and is definitely not for the lighthearted.
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $16,354
- Runtime1 hour 23 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1