Plot
Based on real events, Paul Bernardo (Collins) and his wife, Karla Homolka (Prepon), kidnap, sexually abuse, and murder three young girls.

Release Year: 2006

Rating: 5.4/10 (2,601 voted)

Director: Joel Bender

Stars: Laura Prepon, Misha Collins, Patrick Bauchau

Storyline
True story about a woman who falls in love with a violent rapist and murderer. Karla Homolka marries Paul Bernardo despite already having aided him in the rape and murder of her younger sister. Through their marriage he brags to her about other rapes he commits and involves Karla herself in the sexual assault and murder of two other female victims. Told from Karla's point of view.

Writers: Joel Bender, Manette Rosen

Cast:
Laura Prepon - Karla Homolka
Misha Collins - Paul Bernardo
Patrick Bauchau - Dr. Arnold
Emilie Jacobs - Debbie
Alex Boyd - Nick
Carole Ita White - Waitress
Fiona Manners - Rape Victim #2
Shawn Hoffman - Detective Steve Kirby
Adam Lieberman - Detective Morgan
Cherilyn Hayres - Tammy Homolka
William Duffy - Detective Porter
Tanya Lemelle - Rape Victim #1
Tony Shawkat - Border Guard #1
Kristen Honey - Tina McCarthy (as Kristen Swieconek)
Cole James - Tina's Friend

Taglines: Evil has a beautiful face.

Release Date: 20 January 2006

Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $5,000,000 (estimated)

Runtime: USA: 99 min

Trivia:
In March 2005, a lawyer representing the families of the two slain Ontario schoolgirls demanded an advance screening of the film to determine whether he would try to block its release. In October 2005 he decided, along with the families of the schoolgirls, not to fight the release.

Goofs:
Anachronisms: An Incubus poster from there 1999 album "make yourself" is displayed in Paul's recording room. The movie is supposed to take place in 1992/93.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Dr. Arnold: Dear Karla, this is to inform you that after serving 8 years of your 12 year term, you're now eligible for parole. In connection with this eligibility, you are to be transferred to this facility for extended evaluation. After the end of which, it will be my responsibility to recommend for or against parole.

Surpringly good acting; toned-down version of sickening events

Rating: 6/10

Paul Bernardo - probably one of the cruellest serial killers that ever existed. Around 50% of the votes cast so far are 1 and this is understandable, as the subject matter in the movie is probably the darkest and most disturbing that any movie could possibly be- and to make matters worse, its all true. There is a relentless hate for this movie and people are going to vote 1 just to try to discourage other from seeing it, to try and teach Hollywood to stay out of producing tragic events, but where were the 1's for other movies profiting off tragedies, like Schindler's List, Titanic or Monster? Before seeing it, I read from others that the acting in the movie was great, I didn't take the comments seriously, but after seeing it, I am totally impressed with Laura Preppon's talent- I never thought of her as a good actor. She IS Karla Homolka, and although she won't win any Oscars for this role, she has undoubtedly impressed many other critics who may have never suspected she had this talent within her. The only major difference between Karla and Laura is that Homolka was a very small woman- 5'2 or so, while Laura is very tall, 5'11. When watching the introducing scene, I had doubts about how good Misha Collins would be, but by the time we reached the first perversion, he turns out to be quite a good actor, although I'd say Preppon definitely gives a better performance. People object to this movie for many reasons, and one is that some believe it's too sympathetic to Karla, but I would disagree. True, it is narrated from real life transcripts that Karla gave to her pscyhiatrist,and many see that as a reason to distrust the movie, but what she tells and what we see are sometimes different and the movie does NOT omit ANY of the evil deeds she committed. However, A LOT of the sadistic things that Paul did were omitted in this brief 81 minute movie- and that is why I called it a 'toned-down' version of the gruesome events, more toned-down that most people would suspect it would be. In this way, the violence is not gratuitous, but there are *surprise!* many cringe-inducing moments. One flaw I see in this movie is the improper allocation of time to various events. The movie covers 90% of the key events, but there was no mention of the videotapes being found, (which completely turned the case upside-down) nor was there any time giving us background information about Bernardo or Holmolka, which we see in other serial killer movies like Monster (we see Aileen as a teenager). I may be wrong, but I think the chronological order between various events may have been shuffled in one case, but probably for editing reasons. I doubt any reviews that IMDb can offer will make a difference in whether one sees it or not, as either you can tolerate watching difficult things or you cannot. However, I agree with CBC's review that is 'an above-average' movie and while being tough to watch, it can also be a tool to reinforce the message that appearances can be deceiving.

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