Scarlet Road

Australian Rachel Wotton is a cofounder of Touching Base, an organization that advocates for public awareness of sexuality in regards to the disabled, helping people with disabilities connect with sex workers, while also training the latter to engage with this particular clientele. Filmmaker Catherine Scott follows the relentlessly cheerful Wotton, a sex worker herself, to appointments with two clients (and visits with their families), and to a conference on sexuality. Wotton speaks extensively on the topic and on the status (legal) of her profession in Australia, noting that people with disabilities often cannot find sexual partners without turning to professionals. Two of her patrons—Mark, who has cerebral palsy, and John, suffering from multiple sclerosis—talk about the difference that sex makes to their emotional and physical well-being. Scarlet Road reminds us that the human need for touch is universal, and the interviews with sex workers suggest that they are healthy individuals who enjoy bringing happiness to others. Wotton is topless in one rather steamy shower scene, and the documentary features a few explicit references to sexual acts, but this is a caring, non-exploitive look at a serious subject. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)