'Perpetrator' Review: Alicia Silverstone Hits Surreal Heights In This Bloody, Feminist Horror Film
The author defies convention. As they tried to put Jennifer Reeder's latest horror film in a standard box, blood was flowing in (almost) every scene.
This blood comes in many forms: nosebleeds, menstruation, open wounds. It stains the teeth, seeps through the gums and forms in thick, pale pools. However, despite the disturbing moving images, the author does not consider blood as a source of horror. On the contrary, blood is power, blood is untapped potential, even blood is a source of salvation. We quickly realize that the true horror of "The Criminal " lies in the threats young women face to their bodily autonomy. Another 2023 release from Shudder shares common ground with The Birth/Rebirth of Laura Moss.
To emphasize this point, the director opens a scene where a teenager named Evelyn is kidnapped by an unknown man. The masked assailant takes her to his apartment, comforts her, ties her up, and tells her that things will only get worse. "Girls like you don't know what they've got until they've got nothing," she yells before the title track, lots of surgical instruments and blood.
The darkness of this episode could indicate that the author is about to delve into torture porn or a casual thriller where people are trying to track down a suspect. But it couldn't be more than Reeder suggests. The author moves freely between genres and influences, moving from coming-of-age to survival to various variations of horror. The sheer complexity of the relationship gives the villain a sense of self-confidence, similar to what we saw in Rider's 2019 Knife and Skin debut, making for a different viewing experience with the feminist horrors lingering underneath. of the skin.
What is the author talking about ?
As the author opens with Evelyn's kidnapping, Reeder quickly transitions from her fate to the film's protagonist, Johnny (Kia McKiernan), who we find crying out to help his father survive. But the problems do not finish there. Johnny has never met his mother, who is prone to unexplained nosebleeds and is about to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. That last word may not mean anything to her, but it does matter to her father, who learns during an unsettling phone call that something big is about to happen to him when he turns 18, and he's not ready for it. . with. (This problem may be related to the fact that your face wrinkles every time you look in the mirror and you have transformed into a different person.)
As his birthday approaches, Johnny moves in with someone who can handle this mysterious transformation: his Aunt Hildy (Alicia Silverstone). As he emerges from his mansion in a black coat and plenty of fur, Silverstone exudes a cool and playful charm that immediately clashes with John's rebellious energy. Scary, tense, and so much fun, Hildy feels like an Aunt Zelda cross between Morticia Addams and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina . When Silverstone arrives, the author enters strange territory.
Silverstone features fun, cool magic that clashes with Johnny's rebellious teen energy.
After all, Hildy is far from the only oddity in Johnny's life. In addition to the normal physical changes that come with puberty, he experiences some wild bodily abnormalities, such as the aforementioned nosebleeds and his interactions with other people, and as his school nurse explained, he might as well. Many hearts. Hildy explains these changes to Johnny, noting that each woman in his family develops a unique sense of empathy around her eighteenth birthday. She calls it "forever" and describes it as "owning the opposite."
The author never tells us all the details about eternity, and he doesn't have to. Body language facial expressions, facial expressions, and embarrassing speech are easy to understand (and embarrassing) together. After all, Forever marks Johnny's official transition into adulthood. Think of it as a second supernatural puberty in which Johnny returns to learn more about his changed body.
The attacker's terror is primarily a matter of bodily autonomy.
As Johnny learns more about Eternity, Reeder combines a supernatural coming-of-age story with a slasher beat. The girls from Johnny's new school have been missing for a while, being chased and kidnapped by the masked man from the opening sequence. For most of the film, Reeder leaves the abuse of his victims a mystery, allowing our imaginations to run wild.
This constant threat looms over the town and the school, so Principal Burke (Chris Lowell) teaches the students mandatory self-defense lessons. Unfortunately, it gives them the worst advice, increases paranoia , and creates a culture of blaming the victims. "Danger lurks around every corner!" He announces. "Your survival depends on you and only you."
While Principal Burke and the school aren't as scary as Aunt Hildy and Forever Scary, Reeder infuses the school environment with his own brand of realism. A particularly wacky and colorful school shooting results in some of the most serious and hilarious dialogue in the film. "My parents are going to kill me because they killed me," John's new classmate complains. It's one of many perfect lines for Heathers , a dark teen comedy that seems like a stark contrast to Johnny's expensive situation and his relationships with three popular girls. (Reeder is based on various film references, including The Silence of the Lambs and Spartacus .)
Johnny, a self-conscious monster from high school, shows how strange it is to grow up in an era known for body control and violence. But when Johnny teams up with Elektra (Irion Roach) to track down the town's kidnapper, these current issues become a source of community bonding. John's own capacity for empathy further strengthens this relationship, leading to some legitimate cleansing moments.
The catharsis of "Revolt" comes not only from the plot and thematic themes, but also from how it uses the cinematic form. Directed by Reeder, edited by Justin Crone, cinematography by Sevidi Castrati, and music by Da Da Da Yes Nick Zinner, the film's combination of tone, genre, and effect is as confusing, refreshing, and wild as its young characters. A chance to be yourself. It's also nice to see Silverstone in such a prominent role; Not only is her performance highly entertaining, but the cast feels like she's passing the teen movie torch from classics like Clueless to something a little more modern and wacky.
With all of these conflicting elements, it's a miracle that the Master could come together, let alone in such a terrifying and liberating way. It reminds you of the damn cake Hildy gave Johnny for his 18th birthday: tempting, exotic, impossible to sink your teeth into.
The Author debuts in select theaters and on Vince on September 1.
Update: August 30, 2023 3:24 pm EDT. The Author was screened in the North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The review was republished to celebrate the first theatrical run and wins.
