Director: Nicole Bazuin
Writers: Nicole Bazuin, Andrea Werhun
Stars: Andrea Werhun, Patrick Groe, Paul Thomas Forrest
Synopsis: Andrea Werhun as she portrays her past roles as escort Mary Ann, stripper Sophia, and her OnlyFans presence – all part of her Toronto sex work journey.
Sex work is one of the world’s oldest professions. Yet even talking about it is taboo, and partaking in it is even more so. The topic brings stereotypes about the kind of person who chooses to get into this work. Modern Whore takes control of the narrative around sex for pay, highlighting real stories. It’s an eye-opening documentary that celebrates art while advocating for the artist behind it.
In the 2010s, Andrea Werhun was a college student looking for ways to make more money. Working as a barista at a coffee shop, tips only found their way into her jar when she discovered that men would tip if some skin was being shown. Deciding to pursue it, she becomes an escort, with no training in the ways of this new venture. She makes $700 her first night and is hooked, but not just by the promise of money. What she finds throughout her career is that although society chooses to partake in her services, all the shame is unfairly projected onto one person: her.
Experiences from Werhun’s book, which also goes by “Modern Whore,” are put on display in a vibrant showcase of campy reenactments. Spanning from her first client to where she is today, Werhun refreshingly embraces sex work. It’s her form of art, and regardless of whether someone understands it or not, she’s more concerned with educating and uplifting her fellow escorts. Her journey, from contracting nearly every STI imaginable to being an emotional dumping ground for men, rings the alarm on how the world views people like Werhun.
Modern Whore challenges our preconceived notions of sex work and leaves a lasting impression with its use of firsthand encounters. Recreations of Werhun’s time with her clients raise questions that audiences have likely thought about or joked about with friends. Commonly, strippers and sex workers are asked why they got into this line of work. Rarely is it asked with genuine intentions and assumes there’s something wrong with them, instantly victimizing sex workers, which is more harmful than it would appear.
Writer and director Nicole Bazuin, along with Werhun, delicately place humor throughout, making it entertaining while informative. It presents information about the treatment of sex workers that demands serious change. Over-the-top recreations of nights with her standout clients show men from all walks of life who buy her services. Werhun finds that some of these men write sex worker reviews, where their story and the truth rarely align. While Werhun and Bazuin recognize these reviews can dehumanize sex workers, they choose to act out both versions to see which is more likely. The outcome is a good laugh that allows Werhun to poke fun in her own way.
While Werhun is the main focus of Modern Whore, there are others who get a chance to speak about their experiences. Black women discuss how colorism impacts their work, how they are told to wear their hair, and which clients they are offered. Others explain how the male gaze pressures sex workers to present more conventionally feminine, even when they do not identify as women. Together, they want to encourage acceptance of sex work and make it a safer experience, advocating for safe sex, labor rights, and drug-free environments to support sound choices.
But the change does not just stop with the people doing the work. Escort agencies, strip club managers, and customers hold the most power in these situations. Modern Whore shows that power through weaponized naivety, taking in new faces and not warning them of risks, or failing to report sexual crimes that happen to their employees, much like environments that occur in strip clubs, where money is often more important than the dancer’s safety. I was not unaware of the harm that sometimes comes with being a sex worker, but Bazuin and Werhun place the shame where it should be held: with the perpetrators.
There is plenty to enjoy from this eye-opening documentary. At the top is how it pops off the screen. It undoubtedly is one of the most visually unique films of the year. It is highly stylized, from the font used throughout to the highly saturated coloring and the fashion that is to die for. Werhun can be seen adorned in styles like a femme fatale or dressed as the human form of shame. Even her performing name, “Mary Anne,” evokes a type of heightened style. It helps the themes of the film stick with audiences, and it’s easy to recall where Werhun is in her life based on her surroundings.
What Modern Whore does best of all is humanize sex workers by showing them as real people. Werhun begins her journey in this documentary as a highly intelligent college student, loving literature and able to reference it at the drop of a hat. But that is just the surface of the talents shown by those in the documentary. It makes audiences see them as daughters with loving and supportive families, as partners in stable relationships, and most of all, as flawed just like us. All in all, Modern Whore is a feat of filmmaking and opens a conversation that is rarely heard. It shows that people are more than their occupation and that even if it is not for us, sex workers deserve basic human respect and safety. Werhun and her fellow sex workers were brave enough to tell their story. Still, it is up to us to listen and uplift them.
