lukeshulver
Chemsex is never going away. It can be an extremely powerful way for young gay men who have had a lifetime of indoctrination of how intimacy, love, and sex between men is wrong. It does lower inhibitions. It enables men to let go of their baggage and become almost primal in their desires and urges and become comfortable with themselves and intimacy with others. If this documentary didn't serve an agenda to further the lies of induced or perceived mental illness and the tools of surveillance, and hide the crimes of a far more severe and perverse nature than drug use or sex, it would have been great to see it address this issue and show how it can be a positive tool in fostering relationships to counter the argument that drug abuse can be destructive as with any other substance abuse, including alcohol and prescription medication. I cant stress my disgust that these lies are now put forward as fact - that people unaware of what is going on may believe, and they themselves contribute to ensure suffering continues for so many young gay men who have already been through enough. Shame on you.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.
Gordon-11
This film tells the lives of some homosexual individuals in London, who are hooked on sex while under the influence of illicit drugs.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.
Tom Dooley
I know a few gay men who are into the scene of so called 'chemsex' and they have absolutely no issues with it what so ever. This film highlights the stories of a number of gay men who have had extreme experiences whilst taking a variety of drugs in order to loosen inhibitions and thereby get more or have better and longer lasting sex.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.
Silviu Moraru
ChemSex isn't a horror film, but there are scenes in this film that are quite hard to watch but I believe it is all included to show just how real the effects of drug addiction are and I came to the conclusion that Requiem touches upon audiences emotions and sentiments while ChemSex touches upon their reason. ChemSex offers a realistic depiction of drug useThe film is so vile and disgusting in its visuals and establishing of certain situations (chill out sauna) that you just can't help but admire what they've done effect-wise but feels a little uneasy all the same. It's this emotional juxtaposition that David Stuart pulls off here and I think it's this that makes ChemSex the film it is, especially given the fact it is not particularly plot driven. There are scenes in this film that are quite hard to watch but I believe it is all included to show just how real the effects of drug addiction are. Maybe it gets depressing at times, as it should, to properly illustrate the horror and depravity that comes with the lifestyle. The "SLAM" scenes couldn't have been more brilliantly imagined to portray the feeling of emptiness and detach men.