Paying for It

Paying for It

April 15, 2026
Preceded by a musical performance from Ethan Artiga.

Details About the Film

This film is part of the series Reel Visions

In late 1990s Toronto, cartoonist Chester (Dan Beirne) is shocked when he learns that his longtime girlfriend Sonny (Emily Lê) wants a non-monogamous relationship. As Sonny explores what she wants outside of their relationship, Chester starts sleeping with sex workers, leading them both to reconsider the meaning of intimacy, romantic love, and sex. A live-action adaptation of acclaimed alternative-cartoonist Chester Brown’s best selling eponymous graphic novel, Paying for It is a moving work of cinematic autofiction, directed and co-written by Brown’s real-life ex and longtime best friend Sook-Yin Lee. This screening will be preceded by a musical performance from Ethan Artiga.

Director(s): Sook-Yin Lee
Starring: Dan Beirne, Emily Lê, Andrea Werhun
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: Canada
Language(s): English
Accessibility Options: ListenTech (Hearing Impaired / Personal Amplified Audio Receiver w/optional T-Coil loop)

Film Reviews

"A welcome surprise and a revelation. “Paying For It" isn’t the movie you’d expect. But, it’s one you might love." 

–Kristy Strouse, Film Inquiry

"With a distinctive voice that captures the contrasting desire for companionship with strictly carnal, no-strings-attached intimacy, the biggest triumph of “Paying For It” is the empathy it shows the sex workers themselves."

–Ally Johnson, The Playlist

"Lee’s movie both adapts Brown’s “comic-strip memoir” and builds on it, giving the story emotional expressiveness that the cartoonist deliberately avoided in his recounting [...] Though less frantic than the comedies of remarriage of the 1930s and ’40s, PAYING FOR IT brings to the genre a wistful, wry charm."

–Jeet Heer, The Nation

 

 

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