Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 9, 2025)
Created in 2016, “OnlyFans” exists as a subscription-based Internet platform that allows creators to market their video products. Though those in other fields use it as well, the site mainly features pornographic content.
That factor allowed OnlyFans to generate over $1 billion in revenue by recent years. For a look at its evolution, we go to a 2024 documentary entitled The Rise of OnlyFans.
Rise covers the precursors of OnlyFans as well as its development. We also hear what brought various creators to the site as well as aspects of their experiences and various movements at OnlyFans.
Much of the documentary relies on interview segments. We hear from Glazers Media owner Vito Glazers, podcaster Ryan Pownall, and OnlyFans creators Adria Rae, Dan Dangler, Amber Marie, Kenzie Anne, Spencer Barrick, and Nicole Doshi.
In theory, a view of the Internet porn industry could become a fascinating look at those involved. Instead, Rise offers the most superficial puff piece one can imagine.
We get perfunctory glimpses of the site’s origins and popularity as well as some challenges along the way. We find out how the COVID pandemic impacted it as well as legal concerns.
However, most of the documentary features the stories of the creators. Again in theory, that seems like a good “birds eye view” of the site via a variety of dimensions.
A well-made show would delve into the background of these performers. We’d get to know their stories and lives and what brought them to the sex industry.
But that never happens here. Sure, toward the end of Rise, we get some comments from the creators about the downside of their chosen profession.
Unfortunately, those moments come and go quickly. They also almost wholly lack insight, especially since even the performers who mention negative ramifications rapidly snap back to champion their happiness with their decisions.
And that’s fine to a degree. I don’t demand that Rise offer nothing but sad stories of lives harmed by participation in OnlyFans.
However, the almost total concentration on positives makes Rise perilously close to propaganda. Too often it feels more like an ad for the site – and these specific creators – than a real discussion of the documentary’s ostensible topic.
Truthfully, we learn only the basics about OnlyFans itself. A five-minute perusal of the site’s Wiki page offers more depth and detail.
As noted, we also learn precious little about the creators on display. We get virtually nothing about their backgrounds and “real lives”, as they tend to stick with rudimentary notes about their work.
Almost none of this seems revealing or interesting, and it doesn’t help that Rise focuses on performers who came from the adult industry. Plenty of “regular people” run their own OnlyFans pages, and the program even notes that patrons tend to prefer more average-looking creators to the super-hot ones.
We don’t meet any of them, though, and all of the female performers shown here definitely fall in the “super-hot” category. Barrick – the only male OnlyFans participant we meet – seems fairly handsome but with his receding hairline and semi-rough look, I don’t think he qualifies as tremendously attractive.
In any case, its choice of participants means Rise neglects one of the most compelling aspects of the OnlyFans tale: the “do it yourself” element. Because the site allowed anyone who wanted to make videos an avenue, that differentiated it from most other online locations.
Perhaps the producers tried to get some “average folks” to participate and found no takers, though that seems unlikely. Whatever the circumstance, the heavy focus on extremely beautiful adult professionals greatly limits the impact of the program’s tale.
At its core, Rise suffers because it just seems so dull, though the producers attempt to spice it up. They feature urgent score more at home in thriller, and they utilize footage of unrelated actors as they “demonstrate” the topics discussed.
For instance, a mention of COVID brings images of people with testing swabs. Comments about OnlyFans executives means shots of Generic Businessmen.
Though I understand the desire to offer something other than just “taking head” shots of the creators, these cutaways feel silly and cheesy. They become almost comical in how literally they try to depict the subjects.
It seems downright perplexing that we never see any samples of the OnlyFans creators’ work. How can a documentary about adult performers come with zero actual nudity?
That makes as much sense as the fact that “Dan Dangler” is a buxom blonde and not a dude with an enormous schlong. Someone could make a fascinating documentary about OnlyFans but the superficial and fluffy Rise isn’t it.
