Finding himself down and out in Los Angeles, ex-porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop. He falls right back into his old habits.
This darkly funny and humane portrait of a uniquely American hustler and the hometown that barely tolerates him from acclaimed filmmaker Sean Baker (TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT) bristles with energy, thanks to a livewire performance from lead Simon Rex.
“RED ROCKET feels hand-tooled, made from the ground up, enterprisingly cast and untampered with by executives or marketing types. It feels as creatively pure as a novel by a kid just out of college.” —Todd McCarthy, Deadline “It's a pleasure to put yourself in Baker's capable hands as he ambles through his loose story with its affectionate, slyly humorous character observations and immersive sense of place.” —David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter “The director's singular gift for street casting — beyond Rex, hardly anyone here has acted professionally — and deeply embedded sense of mood works its own kind of unhurried alchemy.” —Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
