Final Rating: 3.5/5
Paul, directed by Denis Côté, tells the story of a young man, only known to viewers as Paul, who after spending ten years stuck in a bad depression bout vows to take back his life and lose weight by cleaning homes of dominatrix’s. He posts Reels of his progress under the name Cleaning Simp Paul, while the professional women give him instructions of what to clean, demean him and get him to commit to living a healthier lifestyle under threat of punishment. We get the inside look at what a content creator looks like, who is using the very content to keep them on pace to achieve goals.
Throughout the film we see many visits to domme’s homes to clean, each putting their own spin on a service that he is requesting from them. Some watch Paul intently as he cleans, others go off and do their own things away from him. They incorporate different levels of a dominant/submissive relationship from using honourifics like Mistress or Goddess to different forms of punishment ranging from crops to whips to floggers. We see some of the domme’s out of character, asking him how his personal life is going and some we only see as the bossy women demanding their kitchen be cleaned better.
Much of the film is left up in the air as to whether Paul is actually getting better from his battle with depression as his videos indicate a level of excitement and happiness, but his attitude off of social media is one that is more neutral. Towards the end after a session with a domme who has tied him up and cut his hair (Paul of course sweeps up the hair on his hands and knees afterwards), she asks him if other domme’s touch him that isn’t a punishment (not beating him). He spends a long while thinking of the right words to say as she gently caresses his freshly cut hair before saying yes, he finally has felt comfortable to start asking for more physical intimacy, whereas before the most he could ask for was them using his body as a footrest.
For the first time in the film, Paul seems genuinely happy and like he has been making solid progress on himself. He also has spread his content out to include photography as he has remodeled his house to work as various photo shoot backgrounds, where he takes pictures of the very women he would hire for his sessions now to do erotic shoots. The film is a simple story of one man’s personal progress, and while there are times where there isn’t a lot going on, in the end there is plenty enough to chew on.
Paul was seen during the 2025 Hot Docs film festival. Thank you to Métropole Films and Star PR for the screener.
Comments
Comments are closed.