Cam

A few years back, I stumbled upon a horror/slasher called GirlHouse. It was about a college-aged girl who, to pay for tuition, signs up for a Real World-meets-camgirl website, but then gets stalked by a deranged fan. It was notable for its cruel brutality and sympathetic lead, but also for the non-judgmental way it portrayed sex workers. Sure, the main character doesn't want to be doing webcam stuff, but she knows the money is good and it's temporary, and the script never looks down on her for it. Cam, likewise, is a sex worker-positive horror movie, and with front-line credentials. The script is written by a former camgirl, and draws on some of her own experiences to inform the movie's world. In fact, the non-judgmental tone is the backbone of what drives the movie's plot. Lola is a camgirl and is trying to break into the top 50 girls on the site she performs on. She takes to doing some insane stunts, including faking a suicide, to get more likes and tokens, which bump up her rating. One night, after breaking into the hallowed 50, her account is taken over by someone that looks and sounds exactly like her, locks out the real Lola, and proceeds to take the account to the top 10, essentially doing it better, and she has no idea who, or perhaps what, this person is. The deeper themes are the most interesting aspect of Cam. While the movie is playing in the field of adult entertainment, really, the themes at play could be applied to any medium in which influencers and internet celebrities exist, from YouTube to TikTok to Instagram. Lola's livelihood is tied to her success and popularity, but so is her identity and sense of self-worth. She enjoys what she does and has a connection to it, but it also validates her. Getting into the top 50 is a measure of success for her. Having her entire profile not only taken away, but done better, eats away at her sense of self. What she has worked months, if not years on, this double has eclipsed in days. Is she as special as she thinks she is? If not, what is she? And, since she's hidden her job from her mother, how proud of it is she really? All of this plays out in a real and honest way, building to the movie's climax, where she has to risk the thing that makes her money -- her looks -- in order to get her life back. And even when she has control of her account in the first half hour, there's also the struggle of finding that next thing to please the audience and maintaining her status; simply getting naked or using a sex toy isn't enough, and she has her own boundaries she won't cross. There are a lot of aspects to the life of a camgirl that this movie touches on in a fair and honest way. It is unfortunate, then, that the least interesting part of this movie is why the movie exists: the doppelganger story. It's not that it's bad, but it is half-baked. The movie wants to build this sense of dread and fear and mystery surrounding it, and it gets the last part, but the horror aspects of it simply do not present themselves. Maybe the horror is supposed to come from watching Lola's life and sanity unravel, but it never feels as disaster-level bad as the movie wants it to be. That's coupled with the origin of the double, which is not only left somewhat vague, but raises questions the movie can't answer, and causes contradictions the movie doesn't even try to reconcile. Ambiguity can be a great thing in horror when the imagination can fill in gaps better than the eyes can, but this isn't that case; there is a hint given and then the movie speeds on, and you'll still be there going "okay, but what, how, why, and what about how that contradicts A, B, and C?", and the movie couldn't care less to look back on it. It leaves the viewer in the unenviable spot where this refusal to dig deeper into the core plot element of the movie leads to a decision on the part of the viewer: it either kicks you out of the movie entirely, you have to view it more as a psychological thriller with possibly supernatural aspects to it, or you give up and just let it play out. The second option is the way I've chosen to go, because I can't do the third, and the movie was never actively bad enough to stop me. It's just not everything it could or should be. This movie definitely isn't for everyone. The first half hour is largely world-building, which means a lot of Lola's cam shows, which means a lot of sexual content. If I didn't know that this was written by a former camgirl, I would think it borders on exploitative. Luckily, Madeline Brewer, who plays Lola, is absolutely charming and enjoyable. I hope to see her in other things in the future. But you will see a lot of her in this movie, among many other women, and if the overtly sexual content gives you pause, this movie ain't for you. Likewise, there are two faked suicides in the movie, and if that's a trigger for you, perhaps don't click on it. But if neither of those are stumbling blocks, Cam is a good watch.