Ma mère l'arnaqueuse

Oh wait, they don't mean convention? Dang it - no pun intended of course. And all kidding aside - because this is serious stuff. As you can imagine (more than me I assume or if not before then now), this is about someone taking advantage of another human being.

The constellation may be interesting and quite a few things had to go wrong (or right from her perspective) ... it's kind of crazy that people still fall for stuff like this. Mostly either someone gullible or someone who gets way over his (or her) head ... good people also mostly, so I am not trying to put anyone down here ... well done and really well edited. I assume some things have been re-recorded - other than that, really gripping if you let yourself immerse ... and go on this wild ride ... we're outside and can judge differently ... still you would hope some people would fight back more .. anyway let this be a warning!

Well. This is a toe-curlingly agonising watch!

Con Mum is an above average con story documentary.

A vulnerable man and his partner are expecting a baby, when an old woman comes into their lives seemingly out of nowhere. What unfolds is a story of mind-boggling amoral manipulation, greed and financial destruction. No spoilers.

The power of this show comes from the honesty of the real-life protagonists in front of the cameras. All of them, except one. We really feel for those on the receiving end, especially and particularly the vulnerable man and his family. It's appalling to watch. Shredding. Chilling.

Even so - we learn a whole lot about one of our human conditions: the need we have to want to believe. Once a scammer knows this vulnerability about us - they have us.... That's what's happened here in Con Mum.

Recommended.

Graham and Heather are excited about the imminent birth of their child, but their world it rocked, when Graham gets a message from Dionne,who claims to be his long lost mother, and a relative of The Sultan of Brunei, a woman who's apparently hugely wealthy. Dionne is quick to buy gifts for Graham and Heather, but bizarrely she's soon asking for money.

It is a very well made and fascinating documentary, in this day and age where there isn't a single day where there isn't a story about some sort of scam or dodgy scheme, it seems so odd that it can still be happening, but it continues to happen.

The way Dionne manipulated poor Graham was cruel, she really took advantage of that need in him to find love, to find a place of belonging. It took Graham some time to realise what was going on.

I don't know why, but when I think of scammers, I think of attractive, younger people, I don't often think of old ladies, it just goes to show, you should never trust anyone on face value.

It's so incredibly sad to learn that the couple split, they seemed so much in love, so happy, Graham man you should have gone to your wife and new born at Christmas, you can understand why Heather got so angry, mum or not.

What an evil woman, Dionne has done nothing but take from Graham, from start to finish, karma, one can only hope.

It's a fascinating watch.

9/10.

Con Mom had potential - the story is wild, the production isn't bad, and it's the kind of show that should pull you in easily. But there's one thing I just couldn't get past: Heather Kaniuk.

She plays one of the main characters, but her voice is so painfully forced - like this fake, low, raspy tone that sounds like she's trying way too hard to be intense or mysterious. It's not natural, it's not engaging... it's just ugh. Every time she speaks, it completely takes me out of the story. It feels like a parody of a true crime character rather than a believable performance.

I'm sorry, but it's genuinely one of the most irritating and frustrating vocal performances I've ever heard on a show. It's killing the vibe entirely.

I wanted to like it, but I just can't sit through it with that voice constantly dragging things down.

Very good documentary.

I was asking myself, if everyone in this documentary are the real protagonists, or if they are impersonated by actors.. the reason is that there is so many documents footage, and they appeared to be in superior quality, i know that phones can produce very good stuff, but here, you got more the impression of watching a movie than any stuff through Tik-tok... I mean, we see all along the movie shots of the (horrible) mother that are in a very good quality... Well, however, watch this documentary, it's very well made, and i feel very sorry for this man and his awful mum. This kind of reminded me the novel of John Waters "liar mouth" , about a con artist, except in this documentary , the mum is even worst than the awful woman described by John Waters. Being WORST than a John Waters's character ... WOW!