Paul

Panorama Dokumente 2025

Paul struggles with depression and social anxiety. He leads a solitary and routine-bound existence spent mostly at home. But, as a big fan of “Alice in Wonderland”, he is always thinking up new ways to make his world brighter and more ornate. Seeking safety and security, he embarks on an unusual job: doing housework for dominant women. As the submissive “Cleaning Simp Paul”, he succeeds in breaking out of his angst-ridden routine. Obsessed with his Instagram profile, Paul retreats into a self-prescribed, virtual therapeutic fantasy that he calls “Cleaning to Save My Life”. One Insta reel at a time, he battles to find inner peace by pleasing his favourite dominatrices.
Filmed from a candid, non-judgemental perspective, Paul is a portrait of an eccentric but endearing human being that delivers a unique take on our sometimes idiosyncratic quest for well-being.

by Denis Côté (Director)
with Cleaning Simp Paul Canada 2025 French, English 87' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

Cleaning Simp Paul

Crew

Director	Denis Côté
Cinematography	Vincent Biron, François Messier-Rheault
Editing	Terence Chotard
Music	Chantale Morin
Sound Design	Terence Chotard
Producers	Hany Ouichou, Denis Côté, Karine Bélanger

Produced by

Coop Vidéo de Montréal

World Sales

Syndicado Film Sales

Photos

Denis Côté

Born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1973. After studying film, he made shorts and worked for several years as a film critic. In 2005, his debut feature Les états nordiques (Drifting States) won the Golden Leopard in the video competition at Locarno. After the Forum screened his internationally acclaimed Bestiaire in 2012, Vic + Flo Saw a Bear was selected for the Berlinale Competition. There followed May We Sleep Soundly in the Forum, Boris Without Béatrice and Ghost Town Anthology in the Competition, Social Hygiene in Encounters and That Kind of Summer in the Competition. He was a member of the Encounters jury in 2024.

Filmography

2005 Les états nordiques (Drifting States) 2007 Nos vies privées (Our Private Lives) · Maïté; short film 2008 Elle veut le chaos (All That She Wants) 2009 Carcasses 2010 Les lignes ennemies (The Enemy Lines) · Curling 2012 Bestiaire 2013 Vic + Flo ont vu un ours (Vic + Flo Saw a Bear) 2014 Que ta joie demeure (Joy of Man’s Desiring) 2015 Excursões (Excursions); short film · Que nous nous assoupissions (May We Sleep Soundly); short film 2016 Boris sans Béatrice (Boris Without Béatrice) 2017 Ta peau si lisse (A Skin So Soft); documentary 2019 Répertoire des villes disparues (Ghost Town Anthology) · Wilcox 2021 Hygiène sociale (Social Hygiene) 2022 Un été comme ça (That Kind of Summer) 2023 Mademoiselle Kenopsia 2024 Jours avant la mort de Nicky (Days Before the Death of Nicky) 2025 Paul; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025