The doppelganger has been used to scary effect in a wide variety of movies over the years. From high profile releases such as The Prestige and Moon to weird, horror-influenced films like Denis Villeneuve`s Enemy and David Lynch`s Lost Highway, the idea of an exact double performing evil deeds is potent and sinister. The new horror movie Cam, which can now be streamed on Netflix, uses this concept within the world of adult live cams with impressive, scary results.The film stars Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid`s Tale, Orange is the New Black) as Alice, a rising cam girl who uses the online alias Lola. She has a faithful group of viewers for whom she performs requests on camera, including some outrageous stuff involving knives and fake blood. She`s desperate to crack the Top 50 on her cam site, but is reluctant to push her act into the more extreme sexual direction of her rivals.Alice`s life away from the camera is very different; she`s a normal young woman with a regular job and a loving family. But when someone--or something--with her name, face, and live cam login starts occupying Alice/Lola`s channel and stealing her fans, things get really weird.On paper, Cam`s mix of sex and horror suggests that it will be an exploitative film focused solely on its sensationalist qualities. But while it does make full use of these more commercial subjects, the film also presents a sensitive, intelligent view of the live cam industry as well as some insightful observations about how we interact with modern technology. The movie`s writer, Isa Mazzei, is a former cam girl, and she ensures that Alice is a sympathetic, believable character, never once judging her choices. Alice is a woman in full command of her life, making great money while working from behind the relative safety of the webcam. Despite some creepy behavior from one of her overly enthusiastic admirers, Alice can look after herself perfectly well in that world--it`s the `woman` with her name and face that is the true ...
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