Money Shot: The Pornhub Story

Grade: B-

Whenever I watch an under-the-radar international film, even if I don’t like it but think it has potential, I tend to think “I wouldn’t mind seeing an American remake, years down the road.” I’m looking at you, Thappad and Piggy. I guess I feel the same way about documentaries, because after watching Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, I thought “now that we have this, it would be neat to see a ‘movie movie’ like it.”

The performers interviewed here, who upload their content to Pornhub and the like, share a unique perspective about their line of work. You kind of have to admire some of it. They say that trust and consent is extremely important. Nobody does anything they don’t want to do. Sex is consensual, otherwise it isn’t sex – it’s rape. By that same token, if anyone involved with a porn shoot is not on board with what they’re doing, it ceases to be porn, but rather a documentation of sexual abuse. It’s an interesting thought to chew on, and probably true.

Amusingly, much is made about the 3-5 second drum beat that we’re told begins every video. We see some viral footage of at least one high school drummer sneaking it in at a school concert, inspiring cheers from fellow students who recognize it. That would be quite the conversation to have with a teacher or principal. “How do you know that drum beat?!?” “How do YOU know that drum beat?”

The little bit of nudity we see in Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is just the top half, but it certainly feels like there’s much more, given the explicit subject matter. Smart directors have a way of tricking an audience into thinking they’ve seen a lot more than they have. I remember when Natural Born Killers was threatened with an NC-17. Hitchcock and Shyamalan also come to mind. It’s the great cinematic magic trick.

The movie touches on the hot water Pornhub got into when real trafficking videos slipped through the cracks (so to speak) and made it online. The ones that go against the true collaborative nature of the business. That’s where the film gets talky, and sometimes lost me. There are one or two great scenes, though, including a Zoom conference, where the “dialogue” was so exciting and emotionally charged, that I momentarily forgot this was a documentary, and I thought I was watching a political thriller. I suppose the talkiness and mundane goes with the territory when it comes to documentaries, of which I haven’t seen many. Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is a unique look into the rabbit hole that is Pornhub – whatever that is. I’ve never heard of this website. Have you?

Grade: B-