Spermworld is a documentary about unregulated online sperm donation. The film follows three men who are donors, one woman who is seeking donation, and the fiancé of one of the three male donors. Through some direct interviews, fly-on-the-wall footage, stylized sequences, and text from an online group the film explores this messy subculture.
The film is beautifully and creatively shot as all of director Lance Oppenheim's projects have been to date. But the engagement with the subjects and with the socio-cultural subset is surface level. There is no real analysis or insight involved, no conclusions drawn, just a simple rendering of these particular individuals and they are, in aggregate, just sad. As a result the feeling it evokes is one of depression and malaise as it is clear there is an ocean of circumstance unrevealed as well as most of the subjects are clearly acting out of a place of trauma and/or negative mental health. The themes are conveyed simplistically and immaturely. There seems to be a preoccupation with the illicitness involved in these interactions rather than their motivations or their results. Children, here, are a commodity and the film does not challenge this idea in any way.
Ultimately the film is too thin to be engaging however well made. Oppenheim's debut Some Kind Of Heaven strikes a better balance and his recent Ren Faire on HBO is more coherent.
A first miss for the director.
Currently streaming on Hulu.
Don't See It.
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