Does blood run thicker than water?
We all have some form of trauma. Unfortunately, some people try to take advantage of it in the worst possible ways, using it against you and quite literally tearing you apart from within. Your darkest fears are exploited, and you are made to face everything you’ve tried to escape. We have witnessed this dilemma play out on the screens in many true crime documentaries.
Con Mum is like any other scam documentary, and has the usual bells and whistles that we are used to watching. However, there are still shocking moments that will catch you off guard along the way. This is the same old story, but told in a way that still manages to feel original because it is remixed in an enchanting way.
Graham Hornigold, the co-founder of Longboys Doughnuts, works as a head pastry chef on the television show ‘Fame Whistle’. He is an orphan, meaning he has never known his mother, and boy, does it show. Just listening to him in this documentary, you can tell that there is so much pain and so many unresolved issues in his life, and the way he narrates throughout the documentary makes you feel that.
This is something his partner Heather, who accompanies Graham in this adventure, is sure of. This all begins in July 2020 with Graham receiving a message that he has been looking forward to his whole life. Guess what? This woman, Dionne, claims to be his mother and claims to have been looking for him for a long time… although the guy is a famous chef.
After Graham’s life, this woman comes into his life, flashing her lavish lifestyle, claiming to be the secret daughter of a former Sultan of Brunei. But the purpose of her showing all her riches is not just for luxury but rather stems from the fact that she suffers from an advanced stage of cancer and wishes to die soon. She is intent on bequeathing all of her riches to Graham while trying to control her remaining days.
Things go downhill from here as Dionne ruthlessly bullies her son and turns him against Heather as well as his friends, all while trying to ruin Graham’s life for the sake of a few dollars.
The documentary is a bit of a slow burn in places, most notably in the build-up to the deception, which takes a while to develop. To the filmmakers’ credit, they do everything possible to keep things engaging throughout, even if you feel sympathetic towards Graham as he is brainwashed and unaware of the chaos that is slowly taking over his life.
Most shocking is the ending, since throughout the film, there is some promise of glorious redemption or at the very least a satisfying conclusion, which it does not deliver on. In a way that is disappointingly similar to real life, messy and riddled with relationships that cannot be maintained, the experience leaves you feeling quite blank, though plausible.
That Dionne gets away practically untouched is also rather shocking, especially considering the shocking way she carries herself. The film does not seem to pay too much attention to the surrounding motives or even our biases towards someone so clearly in distress, and this is rather absurd. History has shown us that a scammer can be disguised as the most innocent person imaginable, and somehow, the film decides to neglect portraying the sinister mask hidden underneath desolate innocence.
Regardless, when viewed with an open mind, Con Mum emerges as a decent documentary. It’s well developed and has a clear story that avoids unnecessary details. Sure, the beginning is a bit sluggish, but it does create a narrative that lingers in your mind after it’s over.
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