Details from IMDB:
Modern Whore
- 2025
- 1h 20m
Andrea Werhun as she portrays her past roles as escort Mary Ann, stripper Sophia, and her OnlyFans presence – all part of her Toronto sex work journey.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
When I saw the preview for this on Crave, I was intrigued. While there have been several documentaries (that I know of) about sex workers, I had never heard of a Canadian one. Plus, this one looked different: Andrea Werhun not only tells her story, but also narrates it, re-enacts her life, and plays a negative part of her psyche. Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m fascinated with documentaries about sex, so I gave it a watch last week.
Main Points:
I really enjoyed this; Andrea seems like a smart, talented, funny, sexy woman, and her story is compelling. Why is there still this terrible stigma around sex workers? As her boyfriend says, lots of people use their body for their job; you go get a massage to feel good/better; it’s the same if you wanted sex (or often it’s more about companionship, as she shows here); you’d go to a sex worker. Countries like the Netherlands and Switzerland have the right idea: sex work is legal and just like another job; they get health benefits, security, and must meet health standards/safety. Finding someone who loves their job and wants to make people happy is so rare these days; for that person to face danger, abuse and assault is a terrible injustice. Sex workers should be treated with the same respect and consideration as any other job. Why sex work is still illegal in Canada, and most of the world, is beyond me; it’s just an example of how we still lag behind as a progressive world, I suppose, but I’m off topic. Andrea does not spare on any of the details, and sadly she did suffer abuse and sexual assault while doing sex work (and as an exotic dancer). Some parts were hard to watch, but I’m glad I did for such an important issue and such a special person; Andrea deserves to have her story told.
She was excellent in all the reenactment scenes (though I think the shame emotion as a character was too often onscreen and I thought it was starting to lose its effectiveness). I applauded Andrea for being so honest; it takes a huge amount of courage to tell her story so publicly. I hope that this film will get the ball rolling in legalizing sex work all over the world. Perhaps even more importantly, I hope it helps to stop people who are sex workers from living in fear and having horrific experiences just for doing their job.
Final Thoughts:
This was an excellent length; less than 1.5 hours left me curious about the subject, and I’ve already looked up the book this is based on. I also thought the interviews she has with other sex workers were excellent; they give vivid details that are sometimes hard to hear, but it’s what’s needed for people to wake up on this issue. Any film that encourages someone to read and raise awareness on an important issue is one I can get behind. I don’t know why the ratings for this are so low; as I said, I have some issues, but I give it a solid 8 out of 10. Please don’t let your children watch this: nudity, coarse language and other mature subject matter make this 19+. If you can handle the truth of, sadly, what still happens to many sex workers, I would highly recommend this movie. I watched this on Crave, and of course I encourage every Canadian to support a Canadian streaming service, filmmakers, cast and author.