There’s nothing better than going into a movie blind and finding it full of delightful surprises. The Perfection does this whether you know anything about it or not: watching the trailer with a weeping Logan Browning whilst Alison Williams follows her down the road immediately makes you think the Get Out star is repeating her villainous assault on African Americans. But that is not the case at all. In fact The Perfection isn’t going to go where you expect, its main purpose seems to be to mess with its audience’s head.
Things start off intregingly enough with Williams, having spent a huge chunk of her life and talent looking after her sick mother, reconnecting with the music school she left as a teenager. Williams was a supremely talented cellist who could have become one of the greats if family duties hadn’t taken her away. Now she has been replaced by Browning, the school’s star, and an international success in her own right. So it seems we are set up for some serious artistic rivalry, with maybe some decent into Black Swan territory for good measure…
But no.
I can’t say anymore.
I can tell you that The Perfection is a beautifully crafted movie. Danny Boyle (name drop!) once told me that some scripts just demand to “be directed the shit out of”. Clearly director Richard Shepherd has taken that to heart as the film is packed with tense scenes, rug pulls and some beautiful deep focus shots (see above) that would make Brian De Palma proud. The sets are also small but spectacular, especially in the school with its vivid oranges and reds.
I can also tell you is that a lot of people have seen this film under the misunderstanding that this is a bit of a drama and a bit of a thriller but all perfectly fine. We’ll it is not that at all. It is a LOT of drama and a LOT of thriller, but it also has some seriously squeezy, stomach churning horror. Whether audiences are actually vomiting from watching this (as reports suggest) or if that is just part of the marketing I guess we will never know. Its not going to be for everyone though, not because of the gore or whatever but because of the lunacy of it all.
The ever lovely May told me that she was a big fan of Christopher Nolan and all the movies that he touched, with the one exception being The Prestige. SPOILERS FOR THE PRESTIGE AHOY. May was thoroughly enjoying the antics of Christian Bale and Huge Jackman and their magician’s rivalry and then it turned out that the big mystery involved a magic photocopier. A MAGIC PHOTOCOPIER. How is anyone meant to work out that mystery? Asked May. Hey look, The Perfection doesn’t have that illogical answer, in fact it all makes perfect sense by the end. However it will keep you on your toes. Just as you think you’ve got a handle on the plot and characters it makes a sudden turn you were not expecting. Your enjoyment of the film will depend on how much you can cope with not knowing what the fuck is going to happen from one moment to the next. Personally I loved it.
But it is also ludicrous. If you like ludicrous then I think you’ll love this. It helps that the two leads are fully invested in the insanity of it all. Both Williams and Browning have proven themselves as quality actors in Get Out and Dear White People respectively. They could probably both get decent but dull parts in mainstream romantic comedies. Or they could do this bag full of crazy. I’m glad they did this, as should you be.
If you want something safer and more predictable then please go watch a romcom, for everyone else watch The Perfection. You might love it, you might hate it, but you certainly won’t forget it.
My Own Personal Hell 