The Perfection (2019) - USA
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)
Inspired by Korean directors and most notably Park Chan Wook’s “Handmaiden”, director Richard Shepard combines these elements into a genre horror psychological thriller, dealing with child assault and abuse whilst blending in the essence of classical music and torture. The film goes through a number of phrases, namely a drama-like beginning that resembles “Black Swan” then takes a dramatic horror and gore twist in the fun of bugs living inside human bodies, but a femme fatal finale to brush it all off.
Allison William (“Get Out”) headlines the thriller with a certain degree of perfection as her character goes thru a transformation of the greater good. Combined with good chemistry with Logan Browning, the characters excel to hook the attention on the audience. Browning does particularly well when she reacts to the chopping of her own arm literally after being drugged with psychological effect. Steven Weber plays the grand master of the musical high society school and diverges into a world of crimes and underworld. Stay tune for industry veteran Winnie Hung for making a cameo performance as one of the student’s mother.
All in all, “The Perfection” is clearly inspired by South Korean master filmmakers of the same genre. The gore and shock is a revelation and the overall performances plays like an organised orchestra. The film never attempts to reinvent those wheels, but instead manages to pull off the twists and turns in a highly competent and entertaining manner.
I rated it 7.5/10