For his feature writing/directing debut filmmaker Jonah Greenstein tells an intriguing tale about Joseph (Alexander Horner) a handsome homeless drifter who works out how to survive in New York. He looks up on Grindr with older men for sex and hustles them for money, food and a place to stay overnight.
He always imbues each encounter with enthusiasm and a real sense of passion that has so many of his ‘johns’ wanting to come back. There are also no shortage of offers from different men ……most of them wealthy and often closeted …. who show him the possibilities of a better life. He seems to crave for intimacy too but as there are automatic limits as to where these arrangements can go he cannot get what he wants.
When he falls in love with one of his clients (Thomas Jay Roberts) he is shocked to be rejected with such force, that the situation turns quite nasty.
Greenstein’s take on the whole topic of young men using sex as their only means to survive the metropolis shows how lonely and desperate that lifestyle is in reality. He makes all the sexual activity appear authentic and refreshingly almost wholesome compared to the cliched hooker/john hook up. It’s all about intimacy with a sense of detachment.
Kudos to the talented Horner for a convincing pitch-perfect performance as the hooker with maybe too big a heart.
Daddy is an impressive thought-provoking debut from Greenstein which evidently was inspired by his own experiences with dating/hook-up apps.. We wonder what part of his past will feed his imagination for his next movie
