Director Sean Baker’s comedy-drama follows the life of a washed-up porn star who returns to his hometown in Texas. He meets seventeen-year-old Strawberry, who works in a doughnut shop, promising her stardom in the porn industry as a comeback for himself.

As he did in previous features including Starlet and Tangerine, Baker portrays sex workers with sincere respect and a nonjudgmental eye. Red Rocket depicts a marginalised character from America’s underclass with a survivor’s instinct and charisma to spare. Filmed during the pandemic on 16 mm with a faded glow and starring Simon Rex in a hyper-energetic performance, the film is an absurd sociopolitical commentary set against disconcerting undercurrents.

The screening on 6 November will be followed by a post-screening talk in Cantonese with film critic Bobby Kwok and M+ Programme Coordinator KY Lung.

Sean Baker (b. 1971, United States) is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an award-winning writer, director, and producer known for Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017). His latest feature, Red Rocket, competed at Cannes in 2021. Baker is also co-creator of the long-running Fox and IFC puppet sitcom Greg the Bunny (2002) and its spin-offs.