Mondo Cam Girl

From classics like The Prestige and Moon to recent high profile releases like Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy and David Lynch’s Lost Highway, the concept of an exact double performing evil deeds has been used to great effect in a wide range of movies. The new horror movie Cam, which is available on Netflix, uses this idea to great effect in the world of adult webcam shows.

Cam stars Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange is the New Black) as Alice, a rising cam girl with a dedicated group of viewers whom she performs requests for on camera. She’s a young woman with a stable job and a close family. Her life is going well, until someone or something starts impersonating Lola, her online alias.

Models sit in rooms in Studio 20, an unassuming office building in Los Angeles. They stream sexually explicit content to online audiences of males who pay virtual tokens. The women may strip, masturbate and chat with the viewers, who are called “members.” Those who want a private show, away from the other audience members, must request it.

Studio 20’s performers are often referred to as “camgirls” and, while some have jobs outside of the studio, the majority work under contract for eight hours per day, five days per week. They’re paid a percentage of the membership fees, and they can use high-end streaming equipment and receive tips from professionals on hair and makeup styling. In order to keep their jobs, the models must hide their faces from the cameras and hide their real names from their families.