When I first saw the blurb for ‘Pvy Chat,’ I thought it was kind of cheesy and just wasn’t for me. But I found that people were talking about it positively, so I said to myself how bad could it be? I have to say, after seeing the film, that it has to be one of the more interesting films I have watched this year.
Written and directed by Ben Hozie, the film is an exploration of a lot of things: online obsession, loneliness. Maybe that’s why it kind of resonated with me in these pandemic Zoom times. It is the story if a man, Jack, living in an apartment in Manhattan He spends his time playing blackjack online, and then the rest of the time he scours cam girl sites looking for Scarlett (Julia Fox) While you may think that he wants sex (or the idea of it) from Scarlett, he perks up when she. responds just wanting to talk to him.
The one day, as he walks around New York City Chinatown, he sees her. She has been lying to him, sayings he is based in San Francisco, and we get a glimpse into her life. I won’t say more, but the film takes interesting twists and turns, They are not unsurprising, but it made me think, and it certainly wasn’t boring. This is billed an ‘erotic love story,’ and it is sometimes quite uncomfortable to watch (I can’t imagine seeing this in a movie house) but I think there is great pay off if you give it a chance.
Luha Thoughts 