The Perfection, 2019.
Directed by Richard Shepard.
Starring Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Alaina Huffman and Steven Weber.
SYNOPSIS:
When troubled musical prodigy Charlotte seeks out Elizabeth, the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.
Before this review goes any further, know that the latest offering from veteran TV and film director Richard Shepard (The Matador, Don Hemingway, HBO’s Girls) is absolutely best viewed while knowing as little about it as possible.
The Perfection is a sinewy, deliciously twisted thriller that thrives on confounding audience expectations, and this write-up will indeed endeavour to preserve the film’s myriad mysteries.
And so, a purposefully curt plot synopsis is as follows; prodigiously talented cellist Charlotte (Allison Williams) is forced to quit her placement at a music conservatory after her mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Some time later, Charlotte’s mother has died and she crosses paths with Elizabeth (Logan Browning), the young woman who replaced her in the music school. Despite their clear mutual admiration for one another, something untoward appears to be brewing beneath the surface.
More so than any card-carrying genre film in recent memory, The Perfection is keen to subvert as many tried-and-tested cliches as possible, frequently hopping between typical thriller movie schematics and in turn creating something quite unique.
Is it a sexy psychodrama, a sci-fi thriller, a revenge flick or perhaps all three? The script, also co-written by Shepard, plants countless false flags throughout its tidy 90-minute runtime, ensuring it’s tough to figure out exactly which way is up until deep into the film’s third act.
However, this approach does occasionally require a little patience from the viewer as the narrative appears to head down some seemingly over-familiar rabbit holes – especially a mid-film passage that flirts with earnest schlock before pulling the rug-out. These “gotcha!” moments are frequent yet, impressively, continually surprising, doling out successful sleights-of-hand all the way to the finish line.
And that’s really all that needs to be said about the film’s script; it’s a little messy and over-reliant on exposition in places, but hits with enough force and dishy shock value to prove perversely, compulsively watchable.
Technically, this is meanwhile a frequently ravishing effort, and by far Shepard’s most visually accomplished feature to date. If the stately framing and gorgeous lighting aren’t enough – lent extra pep by Netflix’s 4K presentation – Shepard and DP Vanja Cernjul (Crazy Rich Asians) employ fantastic use of close-ups, and it sure doesn’t hurt that his two leads have such wonderfully expressive faces.
These visuals combine with some beautiful cello pieces, employed in a predictably yet suitably ironic fashion that belies the ugliness of the emotions and actions witnessed throughout. Much like Whiplash, musical performance takes on an unexpectedly violent tenor and boasts all the fearful presence of a gun or a knife.
The smooth style is abetted at all times by the two remarkable central performances, which again not too much can be said about for fear of giving the game away. Nevertheless, Williams continues to build on the genre cred she picked up in Get Out, and for those unfamiliar with Browning’s prior work, this is quite the attention-grabbing introduction indeed.
Despite a few minor issues – the aforementioned exposition, some slightly obnoxious chapter inter-titles and a few rough spots of CGI – this is precisely the type of boundary-pushing, smartly laid-out genre film Netflix should be seeking more of. But to be clear, this isn’t a “switch your brain off on a hungover Sunday” type affair – it’s a thoroughly engaging, delightfully effed-up film that rewards viewers who pay attention.
The Perfection may be fundamentally imperfect, but it executes gonzo material with intelligence and panache. Just make sure to go in as blind as possible.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more film rambling.
Originally published May 27, 2019. Updated May 28, 2019.
