Sweet Karma is a grimy genre picture from Canada, a country revered for its wholesome goodness and free healthcare. I've always thought of Canada as a place where people can leave their doors unlocked--maybe even ajar--at night, without fear of home invasion. A land where any disagreement can be solved over a plate of poutine or a friendly, pick-up hockey match. Where the policeman carry nothing more lethal than a wagging finger. And they ride moose to work, right? I thought I saw a picture of a Canadian guy riding a moose once.Nothing bad ever happens in Canada, but if it does, well, it's really bad. I mean, twisted bad. Remember back in 2008 when Tim McLean, a Canadian carnival employee, was decapitated and partially eaten (ew.) by a psychotic Chinese man while traveling home on a Greyhound bus? That was terrible, made all the more horrifying by the fact that it happened in Canada, where nothing bad ever happens.
Of course, bad shit happens everywhere. Even Canada. Murder. Sexual assault. Human trafficking. Hockey fights.
Sweet Karma ostensibly focuses on the trafficking of humans, specifically females, specifically Russian females. Russian women are being tricked into moving to Toronto for a flashy career in housecleaning, but are instead forced into the city's underground sex trade. The women are forced to be strippers, prostitutes, adult film actresses or whatever else the Russian mob decides is best. It's an awful world. A sick world. And Sweet Karma revels in it.
But it has to, because that's the kind of movie Sweet Karma is. It's a sleazy, disturbing, super low-budget revenge flick, and as such, it is a success. It also isn't terribly groundbreaking.
Revenge pictures are rote by their very nature. A character is wronged, either directly or indirectly, so they take revenge on those that committed the wronging. That's the skeleton, now the writers just need to insert the organs and hang the flesh. The director gives it a little zap Frankenstein-style, and, there, you got your revenge film.
In Sweet Karma, it is mute Russian beauty Karma who has been wronged, albeit indirectly. Her sister immigrates to Canada on the promise of housecleaning work and promptly disappears. Karma travels to Canada to exact revenge on the Russian baddies responsible, starting with the woman who helped her sister get out of the country in the first place. After securing her plane ticket and signing her work visa paperwork, Karma stabs the woman in the head with a knife. One down--three to go.
Let's talk about the actress who plays Karma real quick. Her name is Shera Bechard and she is gorgeous. She never says a word, but her eyes convey each tortured emotion perfectly. I really liked Karma. Until the strip club scene. Or, more accurately, the, ummmm, third strip club scene, I think? There are so many strip club scenes in this thing.
So, Karma is supposed to be this simple, mild-mannered girl driven to murder after the apparent death of her beloved sister. She doesn't want to hurt anyone--to kill anyone--but she feels it is her duty. And I was with her. Until she took her clothes off.
To lure one of the creepy Russian slimeballs responsible for forcing poor Russian girls into a life of sexual slavery, Karma performs a striptease for him, before slaughtering him in the handicap bathroom. The striptease is fine. Karma doesn't perform above what would be believable for her character. She is a very beautiful girl, so it doesn't take much more than some swaying and a pair of half-lidded eyes to get the job done. But then Karma takes her top off.
Karma has the fakest fake boobs I've ever seen in my life. Don't misunderstand. They're fine, but they are fake. I've seen a lot of boobs in my life (jealous?) and I'm fairly certain one's nipples do not naturally reside on top of one's breasts. Correct me if I've wrong, ladies, but I'm not wrong. But that isn't even my problem really. It's more the fact that Karma, a taciturn orphan girl from a poor family, somehow has fake tits. It took me out of the movie. I know they couldn't ask Bechard to remove her boobs for the shoot, but it's distracting.
The "fake boob striptease" inspired me to do some research on Shera Bechard. I discovered that she is, in fact, a Playboy Playmate who, when she is not playing mute Russian girls on revenge sprees, sports platinum blonde hair and the overly made-up appearance of an erotic model. I thought I'd discovered a beautiful, no-name actress destined for greatness, but instead I'd stumbled across a favor someone owed to a film producer.
That's not fair. I already said Bechard is good in the role, and she is. The fact that she is a nude model doesn't change the fact that she gives a good performance. It does explain why her character is mute. The movie offers a dubious explanation--Karma's mother died giving birth to her and as a result, Karma has chosen never to speak--but I think we all know the truth. Shera Bechard has a great career ahead of her, provided she continues to play characters who cannot talk.
Also, one more thing about Bechard. In the "About" section of her official website, the first entry on her list of accomplishments is that she was born in the same town as James Cameron. Um, good job?
The best day at work ever!
It should go without saying that Karma completes her revenge tour of Toronto, but not before the film offers a final twist, which I should've predicted, but did not. The twist, as it were, kind of muddles the entire message of the movie. If you ever plan on watching Sweet Karma for anything other than the copious amount of strip club scenes, I'd hold off on reading the rest of this review. Things is about to get all spoilery up in here, son!
So, yeah, I'm aware that most of you have figured out the twist already simply from reading this review, but here it is anyway: Karma's sister is not dead. In fact, she is shacked up with the Canadian businessman fronting the money to the Russian sleazebags Karma has spent the film murdering in increasingly uninteresting ways. Yes, Karma's sister knows what is going on, but accepts it since her freedom has been purchased and she now lives in a nice, big house.
And that's the end! A frustrated Karma fires a gun into the ceiling, says good-bye to her undercover police officer friend--oh, yeah, I skipped that whole part--and goes back to Russia. The end. The underground sex trade goes on, only now with three fewer players. What, you wanted Karma to clean up the mean streets of Toronto for good? Not bloody likely.
Incidentally, I've been to Toronto, and the streets are already spotlessly clean. Granted, I stayed on the nice streets, but I'm sure the mean streets are pretty clean as well.
