Six escort boys and two female clients. The testimonies of these eight people feed into the documentary "Escort Boys: Those Women Want", available on Prime Video. A film that accompanies the French series released three weeks earlier on the platform and in which men from the Camargue decide to sell their bodies to save the family farm of one of them. In this well-balanced and touching fiction, the artistry of Simon Ehrlacher and Guillaume Labbé is enough to make you salivate, but the subject is fortunately much deeper than a simple affair of sex.
This is also evident in the documentary "Escort Boys: Those Women Want". Of the men interviewed, three did so with their faces uncovered and three others anonymously. All of them have preconceived notions about their profession: no, they don't only have billionaire clients who call on them because their husbands abandon them. Each of them has its own story and specific needs. They can be the local baker or well-to-do women, of all ages — from 18 to over 80, says one of them — and all body types.
The two clients who testify explain their motivations and how they felt when using escort boys. Professionals, on the other hand, detail how they started this activity and why, in some cases, they got out of it too. Everyone has a different background and a personal way of looking at their job. They range from someone who has had only one client a day, five days a week for nineteen years, to someone who can make an hour-long appointment — no more, no less — to a list of 1,400 clients in eight years.
Women's desire, pleasure and lack of recognition
From experimental threesomes to full-fledged therapeutic sessions, detailed on-screen appointments come in all shapes and sizes. The richness of the testimonies is edifying, even if we regret the reconstructions of some of the encounters with the help of actors who frankly do not bring much.
Surprisingly, the issue of money is rarely discussed. It is put forward as a tool that sets limits, that establishes a framework, but the amounts are rarely mentioned. An escort said he was asking for 1,000 euros a day and night. Another said he earned between €3,000 and €6,000 a month, which could sometimes be as high as €10,000. That's all. It is difficult to determine how much those who testify spend to obtain their services.
At the end of the day, it is above all the notion of pleasure, female desire and their lack of recognition in society in general that stands out in a glaring way in this documentary film. Each escort boy highlights the help and joy he can bring to those who use his service. For some, that's enough and they are content with their situation. For others, escorting is just a phase of their lives that has provided them with the necessary financial means, to pay debts or to be able to take care of their family, from which they have left or are planning to leave. So not everything is rosy in the land of escort boys, fiction or not.
Editor's Note:
3.5/5
"Escort Boys: The Ones Women Want",
French documentary by Olivia Barlier (2024). 68 minutes.