Alex Phillips’ sophomore feature Anything That Moves is many things, from a soft-core porno to an erotic, modern giallo that’ll have you terrified and aroused in equal measure. But more than that, it’s a film about pleasure and what it means to attain it. And in this messy, gorgeous film, Phillips examines the inherent beauty of pleasure and the absolute evil that can emerge from it through the eyes of a sex worker who’s been blessed with the ability to satisfy anyone lucky enough to fornicate with him.
Hal Baum plays Liam, a delivery boy for the app SNAXXX where clients order food with a side order of ass. Yes, Liam is a delivery boy-sex worker who makes his living biking the streets of Chicago, delivering treats of several different varieties to his anxious customers. Liam will fuck, well, anything that moves. Men, women, skinny, fat, older, it doesn’t matter. Liam sees the beauty in them all, making sure every client orgasms at least once while they’re together.
And on the topic of orgasms, Anything That Moves is unafraid of them, with Phillips making sure to not only have actors moan in pleasure, but to also use a lighting AND a musical sting to indicate that a person has, in fact, climaxed. It’s meant to be celebrated, exciting, and beautiful, and that’s made apparent throughout the film. Plus, everyone gets to come here, if that’s what they want. There’s no fear of depicting the female orgasm or use of smash cuts to suggestive imagery. Phillips lays all of that vulnerability bare on screen, which imbues the film with a deep sense of humanity.
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But this isn’t just a movie about orgasms and the man who’s so good at giving them. Liam’s seemingly idyllic little life is shattered when a client he visited when his partner-in-crime and fellow sex worker Thea (Jiana Nicole) turns up dead with his brains quite literally f***ed out. Liam falls on the radar of two nasty Chicago city cops and a serial killer, clothed in white gloves, starts stalking and killing Liam’s clients. So, of course, Liam is the main suspect and the cops, disgusted by his line of work, refuse to acknowledge any of the facts. So, it’s up to Liam and Thea to figure out who’s responsible before it’s too late.
While Phillips ensures there’s a thick layer of grim coating Anything That Moves, he also ensures that beauty shines through, whether through Liam coaching a husband through giving his wife an orgasm, a playful bubble bath, or an intimate hug between friends/lovers. Beauty isn’t purely an aesthetic concept here; it’s a state of mind, a place where Liam exists as he brings happiness and pleasure to those asking. And when the corrupt, homophobic cops arrive on scene, that beauty is perverted with anger and self-hatred.
Those moments of anger and self-hatred are what drench this film in an overwhelming sense of dread. As Liam bikes alone through the dark Chicago streets, the sense of joy captured earlier in the film dissipates into something oppressive. Liam’s enthusiasm is drained from his face and everything feels threatening. Phillips and Baum capture the paranoia that slowly soaks into Liam’s bones which sells the terror that exists at the core of Anything That Moves.
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Baum’s performance overall is crucial to Anything That Moves and he’s able to ground a rather outlandish premise and world with his boyish smile and soft-spoken nature. Think a lower budget Dirk Diggler without a monster wiener and a looming porn career. He’s just a guy, trying to get by, and trying to stay happy while doing it.
As a follow-up to his debut, All Jacked Up And Full of Worms, Anything That Moves proves Phillips’ confidence and vision as a filmmaker. His sophomore effort shows an even more-assured storyteller who isn’t afraid to be both sincere and freaky in the same breath. That’s a hard balance to strike, and yet he accomplishes it flawlessly here, crafting a story that’s both deeply weird and deeply lovely.
Anything That Moves is a film all about beauty and where you find it in the world. Phillips is challenging preconceived societal notions about sex on-screen as we watch a male sex worker both strut and struggle his way through a world of people trying to find beauty within themselves. In an era where purity culture is back on the rise, Anything That Moves is a movie that spits in the face of such a notion, embracing sex as perfectly imperfect while depicting the chilling reality of the dangers sex workers still face today. Come for the fascinating story, stay for, well, the come.
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