The Perfection (2018)
Directed by Richard Shepard
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.
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5 films that influenced The Perfection
What critics say influenced The Perfection
While this notion is commonly utilized for obsessions of physical form revolving around beauty and youth, Shepard approaches perfection in a way that is reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
The menacing artsiness and female trauma that inform the movie’s tone put it in the same small folder as Suspiria (either version) and Black Swan.
In one moment, you're watching a bad Black Swan spin-off.
He’s clearly relishing the more ridiculous aspects of the story here, especially when a big revelation drops and the third act goes from Black Swan to batshit crazy.
It starts as a seeming erotic thriller before pivoting into a nightmarish plague story, a Black Swan -esque psychodrama, and a ferociously Jacobean revenge flick.
Set in the pressure-filled world of classical music performance, it plays out in four titled movements that, among other influences, mash up Whiplash, Black Swan, Suspiria (circa 2018) and Cronenbergian venereal horrors.
Any movie that opens with a scene reminiscent of Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria and ends with one that’s reminiscent of Tod Browning’s Freaks is a movie that takes its viewers on a ride .
After that, you're reliving a scene from 127 Hours, a couple of scenes from Boxing Helena, and every last one of the Allison Williams-starring Get Out moments we've come to know and love.
What you think you’re about to watch is a typical story of a demanding music instructor and an obsessive student who goes crazy, like 2014’s Whiplash.
I never watched the trailer and blocked out all reviews – in fact, I barely knew what it was about beyond the superficial comparisons to Damien Chazelle‘s Whiplash .
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Richard Shepard’s The Perfection is the sexiest, trashiest erotic thriller since Rob Cohen’s embarrassingly underrated The Boy Next Door.