The Perfection

The Perfection follows Allison Williams’ Charlotte Willmore, a cellist who put her promising career on hold to care for her ailing mother, as she befriends her former teacher’s (Steven Weber’s Anton) newest pupil (Logan Browning’s Lizzie), with the narrative, past that point, taking a series of decidedly (and thoroughly) unpredictable turns before winding up at a brutal, engrossing third act. Filmmaker Richard Shepard, working from a script written with Eric C. Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, delivers an off-the-wall yet frequently captivating thriller that boasts a handful of almost unbearably suspenseful sequences (eg a bus trip that turns increasingly sinister and violent), and it’s certainly clear that the movie, which runs a tight 90 minutes, benefits substantially from its often aggressively trashy sensibilities and penchant for over-the-top garishness (ie there’s not a whole lot of time to dwell on the story’s myriad of undeniable holes). The compulsively watchable vibe is perpetuated by the actors’ strong work and Shepard’s intriguing directorial choices, with, in terms of the latter, the narrative’s unusual structure and penchant for doubling back on itself certainly going a long way towards keeping the viewer on their toes from start to finish – which ultimately does cement The Perfection‘s place as an appreciatively lurid (if somewhat erratically-paced) endeavor that fares better than (obvious inspiration) Brian De Palma’s last few efforts.

*** out of ****

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