(2014, 88 min)
Country: Great Britain
Director: Todd Verow, Charles Lum
Studio: Bangor Films
Language: English
SYNOPSIS: Age of Consent is about the history of The HOIST, London's first and only gay sex fetish bar. It follows the cultural evolution of gay life and sex in modern London through AIDS, gentrification, and the ongoing political struggle to decriminalize UK homosexual activity.
REVIEW:
This documentary by festival favorites Lum and Verow tells the story of The Hoist (open since 1996 and now one of London’s only surviving leather bars) and in doing so tells the story of gay sex from decriminalization to Grindr, taking in police entrapment, the Spanner case, safer sex and Section 28. Age of Consent is informative and eye-opening – did you know more gay men were arrested and convicted of gross indecency in 1989 than in 1966? – while being playful, funny and downright filthy. Described by the barman as a "sneaky, sexy, dirty wee hole," The Hoist and its patrons could be seen as representing the antithesis of the trend in mainstream gay politics towards assimilation. But, with encroaching gentrification and more people using the internet to hook up... what does the future hold?
-- Reviewed by Jason Barker BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
