WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: This is a standalone psychological horror movie about a camgirl named Alice--a.k.a. "Lola"--whose struggle to get to the #1 spot on her hosting site is suddenly derailed when her image is stolen and she's locked out of her account.
Alice is riveting--likable, weird, driven, creative--and I love how the movie toys with supernatural, science fictional, and criminal explanations for what's happening to her. It gets really unsettling, and the feeling of an ambiguous, uncertain threat hanging over her is really well-done. It's also got a lot of fascinating subtext (and outright text, honestly) about privacy, sex work, and identity. And it looks great--the visuals are distinctive and there are a lot of images that have stayed with me.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT: It's on Netflix, at least in the US.
CONTENT NOTES: Some self-harm, real and simulated (including a simulated suicide); stalking; depictions of misogyny and anti-sex worker bias; boundaries being violated; some humiliation; referenced sexual assault.
I'LL BE ASKING FOR...: Horror (science fictional/supernatural/psychological), Alice rebuilding her life, Alice/Lola weird digital selfcest, the stolen Lola image as a character, Alice/various female characters.
Cam (2018)
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: This is a standalone psychological horror movie about a camgirl named Alice--a.k.a. "Lola"--whose struggle to get to the #1 spot on her hosting site is suddenly derailed when her image is stolen and she's locked out of her account.
Alice is riveting--likable, weird, driven, creative--and I love how the movie toys with supernatural, science fictional, and criminal explanations for what's happening to her. It gets really unsettling, and the feeling of an ambiguous, uncertain threat hanging over her is really well-done. It's also got a lot of fascinating subtext (and outright text, honestly) about privacy, sex work, and identity. And it looks great--the visuals are distinctive and there are a lot of images that have stayed with me.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT: It's on Netflix, at least in the US.
CONTENT NOTES: Some self-harm, real and simulated (including a simulated suicide); stalking; depictions of misogyny and anti-sex worker bias; boundaries being violated; some humiliation; referenced sexual assault.
I'LL BE ASKING FOR...: Horror (science fictional/supernatural/psychological), Alice rebuilding her life, Alice/Lola weird digital selfcest, the stolen Lola image as a character, Alice/various female characters.