Twink

If there's a resurgence in guerilla style indie filmmaking, and I have every hope there is, I've found the leaders. They are U.K. residents Jason Impey, and Wade Radford. Not only are they leading the charge, they're also the architects of said resurgence. With four films in a matter of two years, and their fifth just completed, Impey and Radford show no signs of slowing down. I was fortunate enough to see a screener of their newest collaboration Twink, and it's simply a stunning piece of work.

Filmed in a single day, with just a camera, an actor (well two, though one is an off screen voice), and improvised dialog, and made for almost nothing, Twink belies all the notions of what indie and low budget cinema can be. It is what cinema should be.

Twink tells the story of Kaden, a former adult film actor, who abruptly left the business, and is on a downward slide. Living in a rundown (though rundown is being generous), room, with peeling wallpaper, and graffiti written across, the movie opens with a documentary filmmaker waking him up, because he's late to start their project. Thus begins 68 minutes of Wade Radford giving an absolutely stunning performance. All too often indie movies are dragged down and made insufferable by bad acting, hackneyed writing, and directors who have a streak of self importance. Twink shuns all of that, and shows two artists at work, creating and making statements on society without bashing you over the head.

Filmed as a talking head type documentary, and shot entirely in one setting (with a brief campfire bit which doesn't quite work, but more on that later), Twink could have been a crashing bore. Yet, Radford lights up the screen, not just with his boyish looks and charm, but a wicked smile, and gleaming eyes. You'll want to have your way with him, or smack him, and often at the same time. Radford does such a wonderful job portraying the rakish, downtrodden Kaden (real name Quinn-so he says); that you can almost believe you are watching a documentary. Impey's direction is perfect, and lets the camera act as a fly on the wall, being obtrusive only when necessary. There is a couple of places where the style is broken, such as a drug and alcohol fueled scene where Kaden attempts to seduce the filmmaker, and at the very end, but it works well, and, the film feels cohesive.

If there's anything I have a negative feeling about, it's a brief scene shot around a campfire. There's the clichéd shot of Kaden, face half hidden in shadow, as he talks about his youth and family, preceded by his reading a poem (which is from Wade Radford's most excellent poetry collection Tough Blows of A Sleepless Universe), which is then burned, and an endless shot of the paper burning. While it was nice to get out of the cramped dwelling Kaden is reduced to living in, it also seemed unnecessary and a bit overwrought. Still, it's a very short scene, and it is redeemed by Radford's performance.

As the movie unfolds, you see Kaden become vulnerable, then building his walls back up. It is clear, he trusts no one, and given his past, you can't blame him. The more he drinks and smokes weed, the more delirious he becomes, and that leads us to the inevitable conclusion. I won't say I was surprised by the ending, as I wasn't. However, it was still a very potent and emotional climax, and a payoff-if you can call it that-which works very, very well.

This is not an easy film to watch. Listening to Kaden's story, his fall from grace, and bitterness against the world (seemingly blind to his own willing participation), takes you on an emotional roller- coaster. Impey and Radford, as with all of their work, pull no punches. This is raw, dangerous work. It has something to say, and says it with a big middle finger to not only the adult film industry but the world of media as well.

I was not overly familiar with their work prior to Twink (though I've followed Radford on twitter for sometime), but if Twink and the trailers for their other work is anything to judge them by, watch out for these two.

Wade Radford captures the essence of a broken twink with his intense on screen presence. His captivating eye contact with the camera (his audience) draws you into his world undone. the backdrop sets the harsh reality that has become Radford's character, dim, dreary, broken and disheartening, which, in turn, represents also, this character who has been chewed up and spat out by an unrelenting, unforgiving and simply unkind industry of which he was formerly a player on the field of. The camera work is raw and simple, however, assisting to create this less than perfect environment. You feel to be in the room, looking through the eyes of a documentary maker. The absence of any other on screen character (only appearing in audio)as the voice of the documentary maker, gives into the solitude and loneliness of this once known star, having fallen. "Twink" tells a story of one young mans journey through the highs and lows of industry fame to anonymity, and sets you up for a grand finale that is both shockingly real and completely unexpected. "Twink" answers, but also asks many questions to the audience and will have you come away from this film viewing some unspoken truths of a harsh reality in an industry many would not question, seeking it solely for our own pleasure. "Twink" is a must watch and will leave you spellbound, wanting to seek out more of Wade Radford's work. A gritty, truthful, raw and real flick, that's a must watch for anyone who enjoys witty cinema making.

Ultra low budget and pretty much ab-libbed all the way through. I needed to watch 3 times to take everything in. A very simple effective premise that works 100%. Wade Radford delivers what is surely a dark, gloomy, sickening and yet utterly engrossing performance. A young British talent that will surely take the independent film sector by storm. It takes something to keep the viewer gripped and the single actor performance is a testament to Wades skill and ability Saying anything more could give something away. Sit back and strap yourself in, but prepare to have your head messed with as you try to process the dark an murky mind set of the film.

I couldn't wait so ordered a Region 1 from the US. I wasn't disappointed. One of the most powerful films I have watched in a long time. It was so real.

So don't delay in ordering those limited editions in the UK. You will not be disappointed.

Fantastic and totally believable.

The filming technique and Wades portrayal of this jaded porn start made you forget this was drama and I believed this really was a documentary. It stirred up every possible emotion from pity, despising and at the same time an almost erotic experience which in itself is quite shocking to feel part of the subject as erotic.

Twink is an intriguing, experimental pet-project about how deep and revealing a subject and an industry can be if you confine a film in terms of its setting and the number of its characters. The only two actors, one of them an unseen character, are Jason Impey and Wade Radford, who also serve as the writers and directors of the project. We focus on Quinn (Wade Radford), a retired gay porn star who used to go by the name "Kayden Daydream." Quinn is approached in his tiny, disorganized loft by a documentarian, who is interested in Quinn and his experiences with the adult industry, particularly the "twink" demographic. For the next hour, we watch Quinn uncover revealing details about the industry, in addition to seemingly treading the line of his own personal instability.

Confining Twink to only one setting, consisting of medium-length, static shots of Radford's Quinn was probably the best option for this film as a whole. Rather than getting distracted by stylistic attributes and bathing the film in random, decorative aesthetics, Impey and Radford are more concerned, at the end of it all, with the subject at hand and painting him as a severely troubled soul, addicted to drugs and alcohol, because of past experiences in a very dirty industry. Quinn gives us brutally honest reasons as to why we, the audience, watches and loves porn, but rarely do we think about the repercussions and the emotions of the performers. Quinn's explicitness only adds to the true layer of honesty the film loves to profile, making this a deeply haunting, even troubling film at times, especially in the latter half, as we see Quinn's emotions escalate dramatically.

At only a little over an hour, the film is a quick-watch, but not one that's easy to digest or to be soon forgotten. For relatively new directors, Impey and Radford employ quiet touches of stylistic charm by the way they choose to shoot the film from certain angles or playing with the filters and the exposure to replicate some type of mood. It's the kind of rare one/two-man project where a great deal of potential is brought forth and a lot of it lives up accordingly, without being too self-satisfying or too empty. Given how short Twink is, it's almost asking to be forgotten after it's watched, but its content and its depiction begs otherwise.

Starring: Wade Radford. Directed by: Jason Impey and Wade Radford.