SPOILER ALERT: This story contains significant details about “Blue Film,” now available on VOD.
Kieron Moore hopes that people don’t know much about “Blue Film” before they watch the movie.
“I think it’s really good to go in as blind as you can,” the actor tells me. “That’s getting harder to do but I think we found an intelligent audience that has gate kept as much information as possible. Even when I saw it for the first time, I was like, ‘Whoa!’ I forgot what it was going to feel like.”
In other words, if you plan on watching the movie, you may want to stop reading this article now and bookmark it for later.
Moore stars as Aaron Eagle, a gay cam boy who discovers that the man who has hired him for an in-person session is Hank Grant (Reed Birney), a teacher from his childhood teacher who went to prison for sexual misconduct with one of his underage students.
What unfolds is a two-hander that is an uncomfortable, and at times utterly disturbing, look at sexual kinks and taboos.
Moore, best known for his work as a homophobic recruit in Netflix’s critically acclaimed “Boots,” was given the script for “Blue Film” by his manager. While many managers would likely urge their clients to not even consider a queer movie about pedophilia, Moore’s thought he was perfect for the part. “I had no idea what it was about, but then the script was a real page turner for me. I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,’” Moore says. “Then I read it three times straight off. I was like, ‘This can’t be even real.’ I immediately sort of fell in love with the idea of playing him.”
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A Zoom with Moore, Birney and the film’s writer-director Elliot Tuttle came next. “We had a really nice read and Reed and I were sobbing in one of the scenes,” Moore recalls. “Reed sent me this beautiful text, and then two weeks later I was in L.A. making the movie.”
He didn’t have too much time to prepare, but Moore talked to content creator friends who helped answer some of his questions. “It sort of broke down the walls for me in regards to my own sort of shame, of my of taboos. Our own exploits and endeavors are completely human, normal,” Moore says. “I think I learned that no kink is too unordinary. I think a lot of terms that are in the movie I’ve been around. I’ve been very lucky to be enveloped in queer spaces and around friends that are super sex-positive so that was never really much of a shock to me.”
He continues, “One of my friends watching the movie said, ‘How much better would the world be if we were all a bit more honest about these little parts of ourselves, the kink or shame or whatever, because we all would feel a little bit less weird and alienated. That’s what I think was my biggest takeaway.”
Despite his very convincing performance – especially the movie’s opening scene that shows his work as a cam boy – Moore says it didn’t come naturally. “I love having my clothes on. I’m a bit of a granddad,” he says, laughing. “So there was something quite liberating in that…and then once I got going, I was like, ‘If I could take 5% of that confidence with me, it’s so empowering.’ I felt really in my body, which was really beautiful. Hopefully I’ll carry that on to all the roles.”
It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t ask Moore about Netflix’s surprise cancellation of “Boots” after just one season. While many have speculated it wasn’t picked up due to political pressure from the Trump administration, the streamer’s chief Ted Sarandos told me in February that was “absolutely not” true.
“It’s an answer above my pay grade in it, but I think it would be hard to defend that it wasn’t a thought when it comes to decision making,” Moore said. “The show was really successful, and that’s all we know.”
“Blue Film” is now available to rent and buy on digital platforms.
