Beyond the Neon

UTuber Joe Saladino makes a semi fake documentary about the exploitative female escort business in Las Vegas. He weaves real life interviews into a story about an undercover investigation involving a fake victim and fake criminals.

Whilst he should be commended for bringing attention to the coercion and exploitation of female escort workers, his self promoting methods distract from this issue.

The acting of Joe and his friends are terrible and the staged fights are laughable. His portrayal of law enforcement is ridiculous and is only there to portray him as some sort of victim.

The only good thing about the movie is the interview with a tremendously brave and dedicated lady who runs a shelter for women looking to leave the industry in which they are caught in. I also found it interesting how escorts agency are shown to circumvent the prostitution laws especially with the hand out cards with confirmation numbers.

As a dad, I thought I had a good handle on the scary things my kids might face, but this movie surprised me. Sex trafficking in America hit me hard. It opened my eyes to how rampant and sneaky this issue is. The survivors who bravely shared their stories had me feeling all sorts of emotions.

The movie was not shy about showing how young girls get lured into trafficking and how they are treated like objects that can be bought and sold. But the ending of the movie was absolutely insane. I don't want to spoil anything, but a complete curveball left me totally shaken. The cliffhanger had me thinking about what might happen next and the bigger picture of the whole thing.

As a parent, it's our job to stay in the loop on issues that could hurt our kids. This movie opened my eyes and reminded me that we must do everything possible to educate and protect our children against people like this. I recommend that every parent watches it!

Interesting to see the not-positive reviews, because I think this movie is AMAZING. Perhaps some of it was over people's heads.

The format is new - think Blair Witch/YouTube? Which makes perfect sense, because this is about a YouTuber and a YouTube crew.

People seem to think this is a documentary, but it's not- until the parts with the women in the middle, which I found INCREDIBLY impactful. Can't believe what some humans have had to go through.

This movie was extremely creative, the pace is edge-of-your seat excellent, and it leaves you thinking.

Are these characters heroes? No. I don't think they're trying to be. They are "doing it for the wrong reasons" and I think that's kind of the point?

The ending is intense- I won't spoil it, but it's justified by the hardest stuff you'll ever have watch.

Is this an indie film? Yes. It's refreshing to have something diffferent than ANOTHER marvel.

Bravo to the creators! Would love to see more like this.

I think it's very important what they're trying to do, but there's too much going on that makes me feel it staged like the boyfriend that is wrapping up drugs, they didn't even blur his face he can go to jail for that. Or them changing out license plates that's illegal that's a felony. So there's just a lot of things I'm questioning, but I'm loving and it's so important to help stop trafficking so I really hope this is real if it's not that's just sad. Sin City has way too much trafficking and it's time that something is done about it. I can't believe trafficking is happening so much in the United States. It breaks my heart, so I hope Joey salads really meant this from the heart and not just for reviews.

The movie is set up to feel like a reality film, the wooden acting an unnatural dialogue removes you from this facade. If you've watched the first ten minutes, you've seen the best the movie has to offer.

Open opening, you're left wondering if you are actually watching a reality based story with real human connections. The acting is forced and the dialogue more so as they begin to show scenes that make no sense to even have a camera there.

The message from the movie is that all girls in the Los Vagas escort world are there under the forceful rule of pimps that have trafficked them there. This view offers no balance.

If you are studying film however, this movie offers value as the production mechanics are obvious and it would allow you to easily break down its construction.