This was a gripping and ultimately sad film. The approach, as a documentary film, was effectively serious without being ponderous or trying to be too flashy and entertaining – which can often happen with Netflix documentaries. The initial remarks are (approximately) time-stamped based on what I noted down during my viewing.
20 minutes: A LOT of actual recordings – text messages, voice messages, some video – fascinating for giving a sense of reality, ultimately invaluable given the final outcomes and, of course, not surprising as so much of people’s lives are lived online. One could also vicariously experience the effect and power of the swindler rather than just listening to an account of it. But will it be overdone? The people involved are VERY open about their experiences.
30 minutes: The ladies WANT to believe in spite of the unlikelihood of it being real. If something seems almost too good to be true…well, you know the rest. And the extent and nature of the ineutesrnationla travel was almost absurd…
50 minutes: The relationship on the phones/devices remained very real for most if not all of the victims for a VERY long time.
1hr.15. Getting very gripping now that investigative journalists have been involved. A great balance achieved between the emotional stories still being told by the women and the detached fascination of the journalists. The scenes in Munich were particularly gripping – would they see him, be able to get a picture, would they be seen. And all the time, with his emphasis on the danger that he was in (supported by the photos of an ‘attack’ on his ‘bodyguard’) lent a real sense of danger to the whole situation – one did not know at all what sort of people he might be actually be involved with.
But it was depressing, if not perhaps almost to be expected, that there was much victim-shaming online in terms of comments directed at the women.
The dramatic tension was t=ratcheted up when Simeon was in Prague – and without victims to call on (as his cover had been blown), and with very limited cash. However, one victim decided that she would play him at his own game. By this time a number of the victims had been in contact with each other and this friendship and support was a one of the few positive aspects of this sordid saga. And by this time, each had realized that, as the smart detective pointed out, he was essentially working a Ponzi scheme where the money from one victim was used to entertain another and so on and so on. But one victim maintained contact and to (ostensibly) help him, said she would sell his (vast) collection of designer threads to raise money for him. She did sell them but did not pass the money on to him, which resulted in a range of passionate calls and messages, alternately threatening and begging. She did supply him with a credit card in a false name and using that information and working out exactly what flight he was on when he could not contact him, ensured that when he arrived at his destination he was arrested.
Sadly, the imprisonment he received (from his home country Israel, was short as it was only crimes he had committed there for which he could be charged and he came out of prison after only a few months. And in the last moments of the film, it was clear that he had managed to c9ntinue this sort of scam – so the ending, while there was a degree of satisfaction, was certainly not what all would have hoped and wanted.
But a riveting and valuable film – and the soundtrack was smartly entertaining too without being too smugly smart and self-referential – or indeed, obtrusive.
A good effort by all.