It’s an awkward situation that other filmmakers might be inclined to leave on the cutting room floor when Ruben is asked by a patron in a bar why he’s being followed around with a camera in “Manhood,” having to explain that it’s a documentary. Yet what that documentary is about would only make the situation more awkward, with Ruben being just aware enough to say it’s “mostly about men’s mental health,” though going into any more detail leads the stranger to skedaddle. Ironically, the reverse could be true of Daniel Lombroso’s engrossing doc, at least as far as its appeal is concerned when men’s mental health really is at the heart of the film, but it’s the lurid promise of learning more about male enhancement surgery that is bound to get audiences to lean in as the director gets to know Ruben’s doctor, Bill Moore, a pioneer of the form in Dallas who developed a process to extend and expand the penis without pills or knives (but does involve needles, so be warned when Lombroso gets such intimate access). On either front, “Manhood” doesn’t come up short.
While Dr. Moore’s technique known as the Phallo Sleeve has been widely adopted by other urologists, who report that penile enlargement has become the most requested part of their practice, he’s maintained a modest office in a Dallas strip mall, designed to be overlooked though the doctor is ruthless promoter and it’s just the kind of place you could see Lombroso taking an interest in after previous embedding with white nationalists for the sobering “White Noise,” where an underground movement suddenly exploded above ground for the election of President Trump. “Manhood” isn’t as overtly connected with politics, but it does explore the current lay of the land in an interesting way when Ruben is prompted to visit Dr. Moore by listening to a Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky podcast and the constant hum of Joe Rogan can be heard in the background of his scenes. A big, burly type with lip rings who likes to perform standup comedy at open mic nights, you’d hardly suspect him to be fragile, but the payments to Dr. Moore of $2400 a pop suggest otherwise and when it’s something that he can’t really afford and his wife insists she doesn’t really want, the sense of inadequacy seems to stem from unresolved personal trauma and/or manufactured by predatory medical practitioners.
Although a handful of graphic scenes of the procedure will surely inspire gasps, that isn’t what should make one queasy in “Manhood” as Lombroso outlines an industry catering to men that would likely be better served by therapy than surgery and a culture broadly that has held rigid standards of masculinity that has prevented a healthier dialogue around sexuality. Dr. Moore himself is a self-made man beyond his business prowess, saying he was inspired to give other confidence after claiming to have found it himself through cosmetic surgery and describes an upbringing where he was unlikely to be accepted after realizing he was gay, and the film also follows David, a young man from Miami who remained in the closet from his family until his OnlyFans account came to light and forges a connection to Dr. Moore for corrective surgery after a bad experience back home. His resorting to anonymous Reddit boards to learn more about the doctor that mishandled his surgery is indicative of the type of information channels people seek out when any public acknowledgement would be shameful – not only for the end result, but its precipitating logic — and the film is refreshing if for no other reason than to bring a conversation out into the open, highlighting the incentives for the procedure to be offered and sought out with questionable necessity.
As was the case with “White Noise,” Lombroso refrains from judgment, though both Dr. Moore’s relationship with David and Ruben’s increasingly precarious financial situation are bound to raise eyebrows, and the director impressively walks a fine line in raising serious issues while the subject lends itself to a more entertaining bent, having both uncomfortable humor as a release valve and a propulsive synth-heavy score from Gil Talmi and Sam Bishoff that accentuates the pressure the men feel to be at their most virile. Men may think by looking down they may see the extent of the problem, but “Manhood” sees something much far more pervasive and pernicious.
“Manhood” will screen again at SXSW on March 18th at 9:30 pm at the Alamo Lamar 8.