A gentle and heart-warmingly non-judgmental film, Denis Côté’s Paul is a compassionate observation of a shy and unusual man and the life of subservience he chooses to lead. While the subject matter could have been treated salaciously or shot for laughs, in the hands of the experienced and wise Côté it is an intelligent examination of an eccentric but endearing human being.
Paul – or ‘Cleaning Simp Paul’ as he describes himself in the film – seeks safety and security through an unusual job: doing housework as a submissive for dominant (and often dominatrix) women. Paul struggles with his weight, depression and social anxiety – aged 34 and 300lbs he woke up from a gloomy 10 years “obese and terrified to be seen in public – but while he once retreated to the security of his home, what has now “saved him” is cleaning the homes of his particular clientele. His online reads how he is “cleaning to save my life.”
Sporting a snug tee-shirt that reads ‘Cleaning Simp’ he arrives at the homes of the dominant women and experiences joy when they congratulate him for his “good work,” to which he proudly replies, “thank you, mistress”.
The film follows him through a series of interactions with various women that he cleans for. All seem happy to see him. For one he kneels on all-fours so that she can rest her legs on him. Another chats about his diet regime, while another gently takes a riding crop to him. He is also seen playing bass guitar while wearing a gimp mask – but for the docile and genial Paul this is all part of a life that seems to bring him peace and pleasure.
Through the Instagram site where he recounts what he does, he has an online chat with ‘Anna’. He tells her: “I like submissive experiences. I like connecting differently with incredible women I respect and getting to see a side of them others don’t.”
“I live in my own world and the world I create with women,” he adds, as the film shows footage of a woman walking on his chest (he seems to enjoy it) as well as footage of him wearing a unicorn head mask at Christmas. An “out of shape unicorn,” she calls him, before engaging in some more light whipping.
He later worries to Anna about how people will judge him via his Insta videos, but in a scene towards the end of the film he is seen walking walks in woods by himself (and indication perhaps that he has learned how to leave the safety of his apartment) before meeting a woman in black who binds his hands while he kneels in front of her.
There is no denying that Paul is a complex individual, and while the film is not seeking to find answers or to suggest that he has concluded his journey, it is clear that Côté succeeds in presenting a generous, compassionate and non-judgmental film.
As he writes: “While observing Cleaning Simp Paul in his power and consent rituals, with their surprising dynamics, I wanted the camera to be nervous and affectionate. I wanted it to capture the slightest reactions of a character with suppressed, locked-down emotions… Paul lives in a routine, candid and in some sense manufactured world. It was important to me to give him a benevolent film that might be strange at times, but never pitying or sensationalist.”
Canada, 2025, 87mins
Dir: Denis Côté
Production: Coop Vidéo de Montréal
International sales: Syndicado Film Sales
Producers: Hany Ouichou, Denis Côté, Karine Bélanger
Cinematography: Vincent Biron, François Messier-Rheault
Editor: Terence Chotard
Music: Chantale Morin
With: Cleaning Simp Paul
