Dark Film Review: CAM
Review by Casey Douglass
Personal
identity has become a far more complicated thing in the age of the
Internet. Not only do we have the usual ideas about who we are, but
now we can measure our “worthiness” by the numbers we can
generate online. Fun to think about, not so fun if we become defined
by it all. CAM makes use of this idea, and spins an interesting tale from it.
CAM
is an adult-rated horror thriller that follows the attempts of Lola,
a reasonably high-ranking cam-girl, to increase her Rank on the website that she cams for. It begins with her talking to her viewers, reacting to their crude jokes and suggestions and generally trying to charm them into tipping/bidding coins to get her to do things. Being the Internet, it doesn’t take long for the suggestions to take a turn to the dark side. This pales in comparison however, to when she later finds out that she appears to have a double, one who has taken control of her account and is meddling in her life.
This
doppelgänger aspect is what I found most intriguing and enjoyable
about CAM. The idea that another “me” could break away and be
doing the stuff I do online, but in a more extreme way, is certainly
an interesting proposition. As far as the film is concerned, it takes
quite awhile for the viewer (and Lola) to find out the nature of what
is going on, beyond the “Holy shit that’s me!” element. There’s
paranoia about it being a competing cam-girl, or one of her fans, or
even the cam site streaming old shows again.
We
are kept guessing about the double for what felt like just over half
the film's length. The “horror” aspect emerged after Lola’s
investigations turned up a surprising thing about another cam-girl. It
wasn’t much later that the nature of the doppelgänger was
revealed. I quite liked the form it took, and could get on board with
how Lola ultimately dealt with things. Even the very end, after things settled a little, proved a surprise as to how she decided to
go about life in the aftermath.
CAM
was written by Isa Mazzei, a former cam-girl herself, which was
something that I had no idea about before writing this review. I
think that’s why the film seemed to have interesting terms and
details, such as the scenes where Lola talks about finding her
“whale” (a wealthy person who spends lots on online currencies
for in-app purchases) and also the way that the cam-girls compete
with each other. The scene where Lola is watching her biggest rival, trying to learn tips, is a small thing, but in a less thoughtful film,
probably wouldn’t have even featured. You also feel for Lola, especially as he secret life clashes with her friends and family against her will.
CAM
is sexual but not overly so. The words are the most explicit, and as
far as flesh, flashes of breasts and implied nakedness/erotic deeds
are about as risqué as things get. There is some bloody gore, but
even here, that is quite minimal, and in the context of the
narrative, not as it seems. The graphical way that the message room
works on-screen is realised very well, the frenzy of messages paced fairly and readable in a comfortable way. The only thing that made me
laugh a little was the very specific animated gifs people sent in
almost instant response to what was happening with Lola.
If
you have Netflix, check it CAM out, I think it's well worth a watch.
Film Title: CAM
Starring:
Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters
Directed by:
Daniel Goldhaber
Written by: Isa
Mazzei
Produced by:
Netflix
Released: 2018
