Red Rocket review – playful portrait of a faded porn star on the American fringe

Sean Baker is a filmmaker celebrated for his grounded explorations of life at the margins of American society. Following the acclaim of Tangerine and The Florida Project, his latest feature, Red Rocket, is yet another film about sex work and people surviving on the fringes, made authentic by the casting of non-professional actors. A writer-director with a keen eye for life's indiscriminate moments, Baker's films have always been resoundingly lo-fi and Red Rocket continues that aesthetic with an evolved political underpinning and attentive handling on troubled masculinity.

Red Rocket’s opening shot immediately grabs interest: as NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” is blasted on the soundtrack, Mikey Davies (Simon Rex), or “Mikey Saber” as he's known in the adult entertainment industry, rolls into small-town Texas from Hollywood like a tumbleweed being aimlessly directed by a warm Southern breeze. Battered and bruised, he arrives at the door of his estranged wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and her mother (Brenda Deiss), who are less than enthused to greet him but agree he can crash on their couch before quickly growing tired of his endless ramblings.

Turned away from retail and fast food joint jobs, Mikey convinces old connections to loop him into a weed distribution business after he is cut from a recurring gig playing a version of Paul Walker in a porn spoof called The Fast and the Fury-Ass. Settling back into his Texas lifestyle, it's later at a doughnut store that he meets Raylee (Suzanna Son), also known as “Strawberry.” Instantly enamoured by this young woman, he draws her into a relationship, believing she is the ticket that will get him back to the Hollywood hills.

Baker embeds this portrait of a washed-up porn star in a subtly defined sense of place and time: small-town Texas, circa 2016, dotted with American flags branded with the name “Trump.” While we already know the outcome of the looming election, it lingers as an omnipresent backdrop as Micky digs deeper into a community steeped in economic hardship. This study of the American working class is beautifully realised with what is becoming Baker’s signature style: ambient lighting – be it the artificial light and low-frequency buzz of patio lamps or the hot rays of midday Texan sun – and the grain of 16mm film that add a grittiness akin to Red Rocket’s bitty narrative.

Baker and co-writer Chris Bergoch are empathetic but playful when it comes to Mickey's character. Riding his bicycle through neighbourhoods as he lauds his success in LA, Mikey’s selfishly rapacious instincts and hedonistic desires only burry him deeper in his own self-aggrandizing ego. Rex does a great job of balancing Mickey’s dirtbag narcissism with a cocky smile, while still allowing Mickey to curl in on himself when he’s alone and wading in desperation. Baker, once again, proves he has a real knack for placing his actors under a dramatic spotlight that really illuminates the uniqueness of their genuine and entertaining performances.

Red Rocket is in UK cinemas from 11 March.