What’s the film? Play Me is an experimental hybrid drama directed, written and produced by Spencer Bogaert. It blends fiction and documentary with livestreaming, and mostly takes place as a single-take performance.
Plot & themes
- The story begins with an accidental meeting at Brussels Airport between a well-known streamer (Spencer) and a young woman (Xenia). This chance encounter triggers real-time streaming that gradually slips into something darker and more exploitative. - The livestream becomes a "no-budget exploitation movie", exploring the boundary between performance and reality. Spencer’s feed starts resembling the tropes of B-movies as popular attention, money, and expectations invade his world. - The film interrogates parasocial relationships (how audiences relate to streamers), the sexualized gaze online, and how nonlinear “truth” becomes on screen in the age of streaming culture.
Style & approach
- Shot to look like / function as a continuous long take with minimal editing, reinforcing the livestream feel and collapsing distance between performer and audience. - Unifies aspects of fiction and nonfiction: although it dramatizes events, its form has documentary tendencies.
Cast & production
- Spencer Bogaert plays the streamer named Spencer. Xenia Borremans plays the young woman he meets. Maya Chowdhury also co-stars. - Its production is Belgian, English-language, and screened in 2026; it is in post-production / having its early festival engagements.
Sources