I was beginning to think this was one of those dark web films (a la Unfriended 2) with a rushed ending, and I wasn't exactly proved wrong. The ending clearly was rushed, and it DID NOT provide closure. Spoiling it also doesn't make sense because you sat through 85 minutes to understand the reasons for all that was happening. I do not mean to say I dislike films with ambiguity, but this was not even ambiguous in the 'clever film-making' sense.
So, we have a webcam girl who wants to make it to the top 50 of some free-girls-live kind of site without having to resort to too many cheap tricks. But desperation eventually gets her there but then, the internet decides to teach her a lesson. A replica of herself is found having taken over her account on the site, and there's apparently no explanation as to why. While the technicalities are conveniently not discussed/rushed towards the end, the girl (Madeline Brewer, who does a pretty great job) breaks down emotionally to the point of being driven marginally insane. While the story-line is intriguing and director Daniel Goldhaber manages to set things up reasonably well (the brother's birthday scene was top notch), he struggles when it comes to the ending.
An internet-doppelganger is a pretty amazing concept (worth tackling in the present day), and it does invoke the vibe of 'Black Mirror' to a fair extent. However, as a viewer, I was left aghast by that nearly terrible final act. It even seemed like the writer(s) ran out of ideas/story-telling devices to take the film forward and provide a more satisfying conclusion. That's the problem with 'concepts'. They can make you want to watch a film but unless executed decently, it'll appear half-baked. This is exactly what happens in the case of 'Cam'.
While I love films that discuss doppelgangers, this one wholly lacked the tension it was supposed to build. In the end, it just turned out to be one of those films that lacked the cinematic finesse you expected it to have in the first place. The overwhelming number of positive reviews do not help either.
