Use Me

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Use Me is the brainchild of award-winning Australian filmmaker Julian Shaw and the life of online “humiliatrix” Ceara Lynch. Julian initially conceptualized a tried-and-true documentary exploring the unconventional career of Ceara Lynch, an online entrepreneur using sex, humiliation and fantasy fulfillment to make a living. As the ambitious director dove deeper into the project with Ceara, an opportunity presented itself to turn Use Me into something completely different – something bolder, bigger and an exploration of Ceara’s very livelihood. Use Me paints broad brushstrokes across an open canvas, blurring the line between reality and fantasy exploring both Ceara’s actual lifestyle and a fictitious turn-of-events involving extortion, kidnapping and the consequences of taking a fantasy too far.

The concept of the film is as industrious as its two stars, Julian and Ceara (who play themselves), and manages to tread the line between exploratory documentary and sexy Blair Witch Project embellishment. Gripping from start to finish, the film only stumbles in making its two stars worthy of sympathy. It’s easy to pardon Ceara’s lack of relatability as she is a fantasy personified, but Julian is equally difficult to cheer for. Despite several scenes in which Julian is seen crying or grieving over insurmountable stress, betrayals and heartbreak audiences may find him to be too self-serving; a martyr for his own brand of art. This isn’t to say that Julian and Ceara aren’t interesting characters – they are. Their chemistry is palpable and their performances commendable, even when their behavior is not.

The film begins by providing audiences with background on the sacrifices Julian is willing to make for his films: filming intimate moments with loved ones, emptying his savings to pursue his next subject, trans-Atlantic travel…and quickly switches to Ceara’s life. Anonymous clients are interviewed, her father proves to be quite forthcoming and she starts the film as an open book. Julian has no trouble integrating into her life and meeting her frenemy Cassie (Jazlyn Yoder) or flying to Vegas to celebrate the funding of their Kickstarter campaign. Things quickly take a turn for the worst, but not before Julian sleeps with both Ceara and Cassie (separately, of course). Julian watches as Ceara takes just a little too much money from a masked online patron and his discomfort is too much to shake.

After taking $900 more than her client Luke (Joseph D. Reitman) agreed upon, Julian concludes that Ceara is hiding something and stumbles down a rabbit hole that leads to her kidnapping. In desperate attempt to save her, Julian needs to come up with $45,000. He does it, but not without first having to submit to Cassie on camera for some extra cash. When this violation isn’t enough to meet the kidnapper’s sum, Julian is forced to sell the sex tape he made with Ceara to get her back. There are endless twists, turns and even a few laughs along the way. The plot of the film parallels the production of it in the way that it subverts tropes, defies expectations and becomes something completely different than initially conceived…and that’s why it works so well. The experimental nature of Use Me was a big risk and in the end it certainly paid off.