Somewhere in its roughly 4-hour runtime, Joe Berlinger's documentary (with its clickbaity title) begins to lose focus. It deviates from the facts, delving deep into conspiracy theories put forward by internet sleuths. The 2010s have seen the incredible rise of these so-called nerds owing to social media, YouTube, and other content publishing platforms with popularity-based algorithms. The entire midportion is simply a chain of what if scenarios that could have happened to Elisa Lam, none of which turn out to be true. Thankfully, the closing episode acts as a redeemer of sorts, covering almost every possible angle as well as empathizing with Lam as a human being with vulnerabilities - something that should have been the core of the piece right from the start. This needed more perspective from the family, friends, or acquaintances of Elisa's instead of these self-proclaimed internet champions.
It was really interesting to know all the historical information about the hotel itself - a place of accommodation that has existed for nearly a century right amid the crime-infested area of downtown Los Angeles. Knowing that serial killers such as Richard Ramirez have stayed at the hotel only adds to its uncanny intrigue. Another aspect that Berlinger and his crew tackle pertinently is absolving death metal musician Pablo Vergara (a.k.a Morbid) of his role in Elisa Lam's demise. The last episode covers this quite well and how cyberbullying can turn out to be traumatic is highlighted. If Berlinger could have done away with established facts being repeated several times and at least some of those bizarre YouTuber theories, this could have made for a better, crisper 2-hour feature - with a more factually appropriate title, of course!
It was really interesting to know all the historical information about the hotel itself - a place of accommodation that has existed for nearly a century right amid the crime-infested area of downtown Los Angeles. Knowing that serial killers such as Richard Ramirez have stayed at the hotel only adds to its uncanny intrigue. Another aspect that Berlinger and his crew tackle pertinently is absolving death metal musician Pablo Vergara (a.k.a Morbid) of his role in Elisa Lam's demise. The last episode covers this quite well and how cyberbullying can turn out to be traumatic is highlighted. If Berlinger could have done away with established facts being repeated several times and at least some of those bizarre YouTuber theories, this could have made for a better, crisper 2-hour feature - with a more factually appropriate title, of course!