“Based on real events, Paul Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, kidnap, sexually abuse, and murder three young girls.” –IMDb
Karla
Starring
Laura Prepon, Misha Collins and Patrick Bauchau
Directed by
Joel Bender
Box Office
$130,416 Gross worldwide
Thoughts
Before I even begin to write about this film, I think it’s important to share, that there are several reasons why you should not watch this movie. After the first (and only) time I watched it, there was an article done that even listed the reasons why you shouldn’t watch Karla. Years later, I am unable to find the article. I remember noting, once I was done watching the film, that the article shared valid points. One of which is that Karla definitely not a movie for everyone.
I found and watched this film on Netflix US. It is not shocking that Netflix Canada would not want to have a movie about two notorious Canadian Serial Killers on their platform. To this day, several people boycott the movie, saying it should not have been released at all. This includes the families of the real victims. They say it taints the memory of the women whose lives were taken. Even actors who were a part of the film have strong opinions of it:
“Since the film’s release, Misha Collins has said that he regrets participating in it. He said that he was unaware of the infamy and strong emotions in Canada surrounding the crimes. After a telephone conversation with a victim who managed to escape, he now routinely tells people not to watch the film, especially when it comes up at Supernatural (2005) conventions. Occasionally, fans ask him to sign their DVDs of the film”. – IMDb
We all either remember the real-life events in the news.
Or, we have at least heard of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. I will not get into the details of their crimes. You can easily find information on the case online. I will say that this film does a great job at making you feel sick over what this husband and wife team did.
At first, I only started watching it because I love Laura Prepon and I didn’t even pay attention to the name of the film. I also love Patrick Bauchau. He played Sydney on The Pretender (the best show ever). As soon as I heard them mention Bernardo, I hesitated and wondered if I should continue watching it. Since I had taken Correctional Intervention in CEGEP, I knew of what the couple had done.
Therefore, while I had a broad idea of what the film would consist of, I didn’t know how far creative licensing would go. Nor did I know if there would be any glorification. Basically, I did not know if I was going to be able to handle the film.
Throughout the film,
we are focusing on how the events took place from the viewpoint of Karla Homolka. Towards the end, you almost get a sense that they are trying to show how innocent she is. That, when she was involved in the murders, it is due to the intimidation and abuse of Bernardo.
As a viewer, I got upset because Karla is simply not innocent (sorry for the spoiler if you don’t know the facts). She kills her own little sister within the first 20 minutes of the film. Therefore, I think they are trying to make Karla look a bit too angelic. However, at the very end, they do show notes about the trial’s verdict.
These notes demonstrate how Homolka shows no remorse or empathy. It displays that there is psychosis involved. I suppose that is a good factor of this film. They are at least mentioning that she is not the innocent party that the majority of the film portrays her to be.
Sidenote: I did not recall what the outcome was for Bernardo and Homolka in real life. After looking it up, I found that Homolka was released, She is now living with her husband and their three children while Bernardo is still in prison. As of 2005, Homolka has never reached out to the families of the victims.
This film is hard to watch.
I usually don’t have a problem with thrillers, horror films, gore, etc. When I know it’s based on real-life events, however, it changes everything. I can completely understand why the actors and actresses involved in the film would have nightmares after filming. They were disgusted while filming it and the working conditions on set were bizarre and uncomfortable. It’s not unusual for this to happen on film sets, but there must be limits put in place. This is perhaps the reason why Laura Prepon did little to no press concerning this film.
The film is well done, for what it is. There’s truly not much I can even say about it.
Perhaps the fact that I will only watch this film once is all that needs to be said. Even movies I don’t particularly enjoy, I give second, third, and even fourth chances. I will not be giving this film a second viewing.
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