Sean Baker is well known for his caustic social observation of the frenetic lives of American marginalised people, especially migrants and sex orkers. 

After a 17-year absence, energetically delusional hustler Mikey “Saber” Davies returns to his home town of Texas City after spending years as a washed-porn star in L.A.  Set in the lead-up to the 2016 Trump/Biden election, virtually unemployable Mikey goes back to dealing weed, and to his old associates. 

Always on the lookout for his next trick, he meets 17-year-old donut seller Strawberry, and sets out to groom her as his ticket back to the porn industry. 

The character Mikey could be described as an entitled narcissist.  He embodies the values and poverty-blighted reality of a stratum of society which is marginalised, impulsive, and open to a way out with often unrealistic expectations.

Red Rocket, for all its liveliness, is a “pinkly iced and sprinkled portait of a man, and a nation, with a hole in the middle,” a version of America that Sean Baker portrays so very well (Cannes Film Festival review).  Roadshow.