The Perfection (2018)

Buttonface says..

A friend of mine, who is a pop culture nerd like me but with a non-horror focus, tried The Perfection and thought I’d like it. He said it was messed up. I assumed that, since he’s a non-horror fan, it would be only mildly messed up. It turned out to be super messed up! I guess he knows my tastes better than I thought he did.

At the start, I was pleasantly surprised by the slow pace. I appreciate a movie that is confident enough to begin in a moody and atmospheric way; it makes me realize that I have to actually invest myself. Like anything else, there are many types of horror flicks and many ways to view them. The “Slow Burn Horror Film” is an art unto itself. The ability to slowly build tension at just the right moment to keep a horror fan interested is a skill worth bragging about.

Good filmmaking is not something that all horror films need to have, but it’s nice to watch a horror film every once in a while that features great dialogue. When was the last time you forgot you were watching a horror flick because you were so wrapped up in the dialogue? I found myself quietly observing the relationships, forgetting that this movie was going to be “messed up.”

The movie revolves around cellists at a conservatory, which might sound like a lot of pompous jackassery. However, as an artsy-fartsy guy myself, I’ve been in similar situations, and they portray it pretty accurately.

Moving on.

So there I am, having my tension raised and I don’t even notice it until one of the girls starts to get sick. Okay, here we go.

I realize their relationship is just starting, and one girl doesn’t want to “mom” the other, but that other chick is literally dying and needs to go to the doctor. I’m the kind of person who usually finds the old “Holy shit, I can’t hold it! I’m going to shit on the bus!” routine hilarious, but in this case, I found it to be quite horrifically mesmerizing. I imagine I was slack-jawed and staring as the scene played out.

I didn’t know I was going into body horror. It’s something I normally try to avoid, although these films tend to be really well-acted. When she puked up bugs, I started to think I knew what I was in for. But then, it does an about-face and turns into a psychological thriller straight out of the nineties.

Then it morphs again into a 70s revenge horror.

That’s about all I’m willing to give away plot-wise. I will throw in that it payed homage to some great horror.

The directing and soundtrack definitely had elements of Alfred Hitchcock meets Japanese horror. The story itself reminded me of some of my favorite “weird ones” over the years, such as Society, Naked Lunch, and Boxing Helena.

In the end, this flick was good. A pleasant surprise.