Cam review: Beware the perils of internet identities in this rather nifty cyber-thriller.
Cam review by Kat Hughes.
Cam Review
Alice makes her living as her online alter-ego Lola. Working as what is known as a cam girl, she spends her evenings in front of her webcam trying to entertain the members of her chatroom. If they like what they see, she’s rewarded both financially and in the cam girl rankings. Alice dreams of breaking the magic ‘Top 50’ and spends hours planning how to achieve her goal. After finally making the top ranks she suddenly finds herself locked out of her account. Even stranger, the woman posing as her could be her identical twin and somehow seems to be streaming from inside Alice’s own apartment. Alice then begins a frantic investigation to take back her life again.
Cam explores some of the darker aspects of the virtual word, shining a light on the perils of identity theft and matters of privacy. Whilst Alice is extremely guarded and secretive, preferring to keep her work life and home life completely separate, the new Lola seems more than willing to share all about Alice’s life.
Cam Review
Madeline Brewer gives an amazing dual star turn as Alice / Lola. She enchants the audience from the opening, much like her character’s online persona. Her performance is balanced and enthralling, and refreshingly lacking in the sordid titillation usually associated with a sex worker on film. This aspect is probably helped by the fact that Cam is written by Isa Mazzei whom previously worked as a cam girl.
Given Cam‘s fantastical storyline, it is by no means a documentary, but surely gives an accurate portrayal of the day-to-day monotony of life as a cam girl. It also captures both the sisterhood of some of the workers, as well as the bitter rivalry that can arise from those with their eyes on the coveted number one spot. Here the competition for Alice comes in the form of the ‘no nude’ Princess X played by the Love Witch herself, Samantha Robinson. Their rivalry isn’t quite as bitchy as in the likes of Showgirls, which is the film standard for these sort of fights between women, and feels much more true to life.
Cam Review
The cinematography too has been well thought out as it offers the viewer an easy visual reference for whether we are watching Alice or Lola. Alice’s real world is coloured with blues and greys; it’s a duller, and more drab affair than that of Lola. Lola’s world is vibrant and rich, full of pinks and reds. It’s the ultimate girly dreamworld fantasy.
A film about sex workers that for once isn’t as seedy as it may sound, it takes all of the typical sleaze and morphs it into something rather beautiful. The perplexing mystery will keep you suitably confused and on edge until the final reveal, and the performance by Brewer is too good to miss. A tightly-written, superbly performed, cyber thriller with echos of David Lynch, Cam is an indie to add to your ‘to watch’ pile.
Cam review by Kat Hughes, July 2018.
Cam screened as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival 2018 line-up.
