An Adult Film Star Returns To Small-Town Texas In A24 And Sean Baker’s Darkly Funny ‘Red Rocket’ Trailer

Sean Baker, the acclaimed director of Tangerine and The Florida Project (one of the best movies of the 2010s), returns with Red Rocket. The film follows Mikey Saber, a middle-aged adult film star who returns to small-town Texas where his estranged wife and mother-in-law live. He disrupts the lives of everyone around him, including a teenage girl working at the donut shop who he becomes infatuated with. Mikey is played by Simon Rex, the former solo porn performer who became an MTV VJ and Scary Movie and What I Like About You star, and is now getting Oscar consideration for Red Rocket.

“A24 is taking it domestically in the United States, and you know they’re a fearless company, and I think they’re going to take anything that comes our way head on. But I don’t want to be negative about it. I know we’re tackling tough subjects here, and I know there are themes and images that are triggering in this film, I get it,” Baker told Deadline about Red Rocket. “We’re just going to see how audiences take it. I understand it’s going to be divisive, and I understand I’m going to get some hate mail, it’s OK.”

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

The audacious new film from writer-director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine), starring Simon Rex in a magnetic, live-wire performance, Red Rocket is a darkly funny and humane portrait of a uniquely American hustler and a hometown that barely tolerates him.

Red Rocket, which also stars Suzanna Son, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Ethan Darbone, Brittney Rodriguez, and Judy Hill, opens on December 3. That ain’t no lie.