The rise of online platforms promising intimacy for a price is the focus of Virtual Girlfriends, a new documentary from Czech filmmaker Barbora Chalupová set to premiere in local cinemas on Nov. 6, 2025. The film offers a close, unscripted look at three women who earn a living by creating erotic content on OnlyFans, a subscription-based service that has grown into one of the internet’s most lucrative—and controversial—social networks.
Chalupová, whose shocking 2020 film Caught in the Net examined the dangers of online sexual predators, turns her camera once again toward the complexities of digital relationships. This time, she explores how performers monetize not just explicit content but the illusion of romance, companionship and love.
With more than 370 million registered users worldwide, OnlyFans has become a cultural phenomenon, raising questions about privacy, empowerment and the shifting nature of human connection in a digital age.
Behind the camera
Virtual Girlfriends is produced by Helium Film and Super film, with Aerofilms handling Czech distribution. Chalupová developed the project with producer Pavla Klimešová and a creative team including cinematographer Šimon Havel and editor Jakub Jelínek. The film received support from the Czech Audiovisual Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Bulgaria’s National Film Center and the European Union’s Next Generation EU program.
Chalupová describes the film as an intimate portrait of three women with distinct motivations for joining OnlyFans—financial independence, personal freedom and the promise of rapid fame.
“More and more people prefer safe virtual relationships over complex real ones,” she said in a statement. “OnlyFans models know that the illusion of intimacy can now be monetized more effectively than ever. I was interested in how this world works, what a typical day looks like and how such work changes a person.”
The documentary’s production team was granted unusual access to its subjects, allowing cameras to capture daily routines and private conversations. According to Chalupová, the protagonists opened their homes and lives to the crew in ways she had not anticipated. “They let us very close,” she said. “I was able to film things I never expected to witness with a camera.”
The Czech OnlyFans world
The film arrives at a moment when OnlyFans continues to disrupt the global adult entertainment industry and spark debates about sex work, empowerment and exploitation. Founded in 2016, the platform allows creators to sell subscriptions for exclusive content, much of it explicit. For some, it represents a path to financial independence; for others, it blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality in troubling ways.
Virtual Girlfriends is the first Czech feature-length documentary to explore the platform from the inside, offering viewers a rare perspective on how performers balance financial opportunity with emotional and social challenges. Beyond the economics, the film raises questions about how digital relationships shape perceptions of love and intimacy.
The 90-minute documentary will open in Czech cinemas on Nov. 6. Whether audiences view it as an exposé, a human-interest story or a cautionary tale, Chalupová’s latest work promises to extend the conversation she began with Caught in the Net—this time into the provocative world where desire, money and technology converge.
