Isa Mazzei, a former camgirl, was tired of films that depicted sex workers as disposable and unworthy of empathy. So she teamed up with director Daniel Goldhaber and modern horror juggernaut Blumhouse Productions to create Cam—a film that manages to be both a vibrant techno thriller that champions its sex-worker protagonist and an examination of the real-world consequences of doing sex work in a whorephobic society.
While Lola Two is framed as Alice’s nemesis, she is far from the film’s villain. At every turn, Alice’s concerns aren’t taken seriously because she’s a sex worker. The tech support worker from FreeGirlsLive doesn’t believe Alice was hacked—even when she’s on the phone with him while Lola Two is streaming live. Alice’s mother says she doesn’t care that Alice is a sex worker—but she never actually listens when Alice tries to explain what’s gone wrong. When Alice calls the police, the officers write off her allegations of identity theft as unimportant and instead ask invasive and irrelevant questions about her work.
Directed by Daniel Goldhaber. TV-MA, 94 min. Streaming on Netflix.
