Monday, May 20, 2019

After Porn Ends 3 (2018)

A few years ago, I came across a documentary called After Porn Ends.  It was a pretty good documentary about people’s lives after they were porn stars.  Some had done well; others hadn’t.  They even did a sequel that followed up pretty nicely.  When I saw a spike in hits on both reviews, I realized that they must have come out with a third installment.   I checked Netflix and it turned out I was correct.

The premise is the same.  There are a lot of people (mostly women) that had been in front of the camera for years.  They tell what it’s like not doing that any more.  Christy Canyon has a radio program on SiriusXM.  Priya Rai is now a cage fighter.  Jenna Presley found Jesus.  The outcomes are usually different, although it would seem many got into the business for the same reason:  Money.  (Tera Patrick was studying to become a nurse until she realized that she could make more playing one on TV, so to speak.)

The movie doesn’t seem like it’s repeating anything from the previous installments, although the franchise does seem to be losing steam.  This one wasn’t quite as interesting.  The stories are new, but not necessarily more interesting  than those from before.  There’s also not the same variety as before.  In the first movie, most of the outcomes were less than desirable.  Actors found it difficult to move on.  In the second movie, many of the actors had found some life after lust.

The previous movies found a way to present the actors as people.  Yes, many of the actors shown here found something else to do.  I didn’t necessarily feel happy or sad about it.  Here, it’s more like actors recalling stories of their glory days.  It’s not said if any of the experiences are typical.  (Is turning to religion common among former adult stars?  I don’t know.)

As you might expect, there are a lot of explicit images.  After all, it is a movie dealing with adult topics.  Many of the stories are happy.  The only really sad one was Bonnie Rotten.  She didn’t have a great upbringing and had difficulty getting into the industry because of her tattoos.

I’m really not certain that a fourth installment is called for.  I spent a while debating over whether or not I wanted to watch this one.  I eventually gave in and watched.  I think if a fourth one is released, I’d probably pass on it.  It would have to pull off something entirely new to catch my attention.


No comments :