Having lived and followed this case in Toronto, I am disappointed with this film which is both inaccurate and dull. What is a film supposed to do? Inform? Entertain? This film does neither; the case of Karla Homolka and her accomplice, Paul Bernardo, is a fascinating series of events that exposed the incompetence of the provincial police and justice system. For years Bernardo raped and killed without coming close to being caught. The only reason he was finally charged for the murders was due to Karla's testimony and that came at the price of a plea bargain that infuriated a normally subdued nation. The film decides to focus instead on the misplaced suggestion that Karla, as an abused spouse, was compelled to participate in the torture and murders. How this can be plausible stretches the imagination considering she appeared to enjoy herself in the videos (entered into evidence) and then continued this behaviour for years and with 3 different girls. There is a reason why no one in Canada would touch this film; the nation sympathizes with the victims' families and the reasons for making this film remain dubious. American Psycho (based on a book that allegedly inspired these acts) is a fictional account that made a social commentary on the yuppie decadence of the 80s with Christian Bale giving a strong performance. This film says nothing of importance on perhaps the most notorious case in that nation's history. As far as entertainment, well, you have to be careful, these are true events and must be handled differently one must be responsible, otherwise it comes across as simply cheap exploitation. As far as the technical aspects, it is a poorly produced work with lower standards than a regular HBO offering; Director Joel Bender captures nothing of the horror that this home must have been as a place of torture and death day after day. The acting by Laura Prepon is simply uninteresting, if not absent; through the latter part of the film she is almost like a zombie resigned to her life. I want to know what she was thinking when she was in the washroom doing her hair and make up speaking in a friendly manner with the victim that she had just kidnapped and assaulted. But, alas, this scene does not appear in the film. It would have been an interesting character study. A scene from the court transcripts that does make it to the screen is the moment that one of the victims finally defies Bernardo and fights back refusing to acquiesce to his demands. "There are some things worth dying for", she says and then, according to the court testimony, she is murdered. However, the film depicts her as actually retracting her courageous statement. A despicable artistic license that insults the victim. This is a film that should be viewed as a cautionary tale of how not to make films.
Review of Karla
