Cam (2018) | Film Review

Imagine you are living your life and climbing the ladder at work. You reach an amazing milestone to have a great party and then, BLAM! The next morning you go to work to see that “you” are already there. You have lost all access to your life, and to make matters worse, the “you” that took your place is better than you are. Weird right? What would you do? How long would you last without your own identity? How far is too far? Welcome to Cam.

Alice has made a career as a cam girl. Its been a lucrative life thus far, but she just wants more. She wants to be the best. As her alter ego, she plans themes to each night she spends on cam. Pool nights, bath nights, even suicide nights…people are into weird things. She is climbing the ranks on the site she cams through and dodging overzealous fans when all of a sudden, she is locked out of her account. The kicker is, someone is still logged in as her and they look exactly like Lola, her on-air alter ego. What follows is Alice losing control of her life and her identity when cam-life and real-life clash. Is it the work of a jealous cam girl, or perhaps the machination of a lovesick fan?

The story is uncomplicated and clear. The premise might be difficult for some to get behind but the stigmas don’t get in the way of a decently entertaining and suspenseful whodunit. The red herrings are well executed and believable. And the execution of the finale comes to a satisfying and believable end.

Madeline Brewer (The Handmaids Tale, Orange is the New Black and Hemlock Grove) portrays both Alice and her alter ego Lola. Madeline is wonderful at playing the cheery and fun characters seen on camera, which is matched by her ability to play someone who is simultaneously losing control and becoming unhinged, and then can bring it all back around to strong and determined. She is just the sort of actress needed for a role that requires long stretches of just her reacting, engaging, and emoting to something off camera for us. Patch Darragh seems to be perfect for playing a love-sick fan, and from there we have a great cast of weirdo cam girls, family, and even more creepy fans. Frankly, everyone who wasn’t Madeline had to just show up for work. The film is entirely hers and she carries it expertly.

So, we come to the part of the review where we normally talk production, and the production is solid. Shots are framed and thought out. Daniel Goldhaber and his team found a perfectly reasonable way to tell us a story about sex workers, without making it feel like we are directly watching depravity onscreen. Shots of anatomy, let’s say, are sparingly used, and only in moments where it feels natural and expected. Beyond the “cam” moments, sexuality and nudity are not a storytelling device. It is clear that Goldhaber knows the story isn’t about blatant sexuality. It’s an impressive feat, considering the easy road would have been to make everything about the naughty bits.

Cam plays with an interesting dichotomy and a story that makes it easy to ignore the character’s career choices. As a viewer, I never felt I was watching anything more than someone’s story unfolding before me. Sure, there were a few raunchy moments here and there, but it did not catch the attention of the 13-year-old boy that lives in my head. Come for a suspenseful engaging story, and stay for the enthralling performance of star Madeline Brewer.