SXSW 2025 Review:
"Make It Look Real"
Much was made during awards seasons of Mikey Madison’s decision not to use an intimacy coordinator on the set of Anora, the Oscar-winning drama that includes nudity and multiple sex scenes. The Anora revelations only serve to amplify the ongoing debate about the use of these film and TV industry professionals, who are described by the Screen Actors Guild as “an advocate, a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.” The position of mostly older, established actors is that intimacy coordinators get in the way of the creative process; younger and emerging talent appreciate intimacy coordinators establishing on-set boundaries that not only ensure consent between all parties but adheres to the production team’s creative vision in this post-#MeTime era. Bearing this in mind, the need for a documentary about the rise of and necessity of intimacy coordinators is all the more vital. Unfortunately, Make It Look Real is not that documentary. Directed by Australian filmmaker Kate Blackmore, Make It Look Real plays out like a 77-minute informercial for British intimacy coordinator Claire Warden. Blackmore’s intent is to offer a portrait of the actor turned intimacy coordinator while capturing her hard at work on the Australian set of Tightrope. The thriller focuses on a vacationing couple who explore their sexuality through the hiring of a male prostitute. Blackmore follows Warden as she meets with Tightrope director Kieran Darcy-Smith to discuss his artistic intent for the film’s three intimate scenes and then with cast members Sarah Roberts, Albert Mwangi, and Tom Davis to ascertain their comfort level with the nudity and simulated sex possibly required of them. Of major concern is the third sex scene, one that is pivotal to advancing the plot but remains unscripted. Warden is shown working individually and in groups with the director and the cast until they arrive at a point they have agreed on how much skin will be shown in each scene. Then comes conversations about choreographing the simulated sex. Granted, it is compelling to listen to each party discuss their needs and expectations when it comes to on-screen sex and nudity. And it is both fascinating and insightful to watch this process of discovery play out, especially as one cast member comes to understand and feels empowered by Warden to articulate the boundaries they want her to set for them, just as another cast member finds that they are at ease showing and doing more on screen than they initially expected. Warden clearly knows what she is doing and how to advocate for the cast members in her negotiations with Darcy-Smith, resulting in the director being able to shoot the scenes in consultation with and with the consent of his cast. But Darcy-Smith being so accommodating to his cast is good for his film but is very much to the detriment of the documentary. There is no conflict to be found in Make It Look Real. Blackmore is privy to nothing more than a series of pleasant and constructive conversations and consultations between all parties in advance of her shooting behind-the-scene footage of the three intimate scenes being filmed. (These scenes are staged with confidence, comfort, and mechanical precision, which of course is the whole point of hiring an intimacy coordinator). Make It Look Real is too insular for its own good. Blackmore does not take a deep-dive into the short but critical history of intimacy coordination. She does not offer any discussion of the need for or the argument against intimacy coordinators, or conduct interviews recounting positive and negatives experiences of working with such professionals, from outside the Tightrope cast and crew. There’s no exploration of how intimacy coordination has changed the film and TV industry—especially within Hollywood—for the better. While Blackmore makes a strong argument that the industry needs the likes of Warden on a film or TV set, and it is hard to deny this, Make It Look Real’s refusal to step outside the confines of the Tightrope set results in a lacking documentary that occurs inside a vacuum. Posted: March 27, 2025. Web site: https://www.staplefiction.com.au/ |
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