Achieving what we all strive so hard for…can get a little nasty…

The Perfection (now on Netflix) shows us the joy in genuine imperfection as this little horror/thriller isn’t perfect but it’s a lean and mean affair that isn’t afraid to get a little nasty which is where the pure joy of this story really comes from.

When troubled musical prodigy Charlotte (Allison Williams) seeks out Elizabeth (Logan Browning), the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.

This is one of those movies where you’re going to feel compelled to look for a Rod Serling/Jordan Peele/Cryptkeeper introduction because The Perfection plays rather deliciously in a self contained fashion only asking us as viewers to kick back and enjoy this serving of revenge which is served up in a cold and calculating fashion allowing it all to hit home in an incredibly entertaining fashion.

Co-Writer/Director Richard Shepard is a highly underrated storyteller that some of you may remember from 2005’s The Matador or 2013’s Don Hemingway and he continues that here with a dark and salacious sense of humour not being afraid to get more than a little uncomfortable and morbid with the subject matter.  The script he co-wrote with Eric C Charmelo and Nicole Snyder has some real snap to it as they’ve all designed a macabre little world that we all know isn’t real but is still authentic enough to insidiously get under our screen and bounce us across the full spectrum of emotions.

The design of it all has a simplicity to it that allows us to focus on the characters rather than any journey that they are taking us.  He focuses on driving home the characters and their motivations in all their twisted, flawed and sick machinations.  It’s not leaning on a lot of logic, and it really isn’t supposed to be…which is what the whole goddamn point is.  Thankfully the ensemble on this one really did embrace that theme and delivered some genuinely thrilling and unhinged performances.

Alison Williams here as Charlotte is simply brilliant; she successfully takes us to somewhere sympathetic with her character only to turn it on a dime…and then turn it on a dime…and then turn it on a dime again.  She keeps us engaged and guessing from minute one while Logan Browning (who you may know from Netflix’s Dear White  People) plays off her exceptionally well.  The interplay between both ladies is just electric and combined with Shepard’s tight direction we’re constantly on edge in this tightly wound opus.

Steven Weber chews the scenery and makes your skin crawl as Anton and reminds us that sometimes the really scary moments in a movie don’t come in any kind of dramatic flourish but rather with a calm and calculated whisper.

This is ultimately one of those films that really plays inside the quiet moments in genre of horror and that’s why The Perfection is just so much fun.  Sure there’s blood, gore and a couple of scares but this was a story that was designed to creep us the fuck out…mission accomplished.