Call Boy (2018)

What makes Call Boy linger in the mind is how it turns a premise that could’ve been tawdry into something unexpectedly elegant—an adult drama that treats intimacy as character, not spectacle. Daisuke Miura films desire with a cool, composed style, and Tori Matsuzaka gives a fearless performance that captures a young man’s numbness slowly giving way to curiosity, empathy, and purpose. It’s graphic and unapologetically frank, yes, but the candor feels in service of honesty: the movie listens to women’s longing with unusual seriousness and lets each encounter reveal something human rather than merely erotic. If explicit sexuality is a dealbreaker, it won’t be your film—but if you’re open to a provocative, thoughtfully made exploration of connection and self-invention, it’s a quietly underrated watch.

Call Boy is aiming for a provocative character study about a bored young man finding purpose through intimacy and performance in a members-only host bar, and it does have moments of confident style and committed acting. But the film often mistakes shock and excess for depth, piling on crude, over-the-top scenarios that can feel more self-indulgent than insightful. If you’re looking for something genuinely erotic or emotionally nuanced, you may find it oddly unsexy, repetitive, and more exhausting than daring. This is best suited to viewers who can tolerate (or want) boundary-pushing content and are fine with a story that prioritizes provocation over plausibility.