Jazz
is superior to classical music, because it values individuality of sound over
note-for-note precision. That might be a bold statement, but Charlotte Willmore
is probably ready to buy into it. She was once the brightest star at the world’s
most prestigious academy for cellists, but not anymore. It is safe to say she
had a bad experience there. When an opportunity arises, she will act on her
pent-up frustrations in Richard Shepard’s The
Perfection, which starts streaming today on Netflix.
Willmore
was top of the heap at the academy, but she was forced to leave when her mother
has a debilitating stroke. When the infirm woman finally dies years later,
Willmore tentatively reaches out to Anton, her old headmaster. At his
invitation, she appears at an academy event, where she meets their current
reining star, Elizabeth Wells. A fast friendship with romantic overtones
quickly develops between them. Willmore even agrees to accompany Wells on her
vacation through China. At first, they have a great time together, but then things
take a shockingly dark turn. Several more of those will follow.
Perfection is one of those
films that requires a lot of cautious tap-dancing to avoid giving away spoilers
in the review. The twists are definitely the thing, as we can tell from the way
Shepard literally rewinds the film to show each how each surprise shoe really
dropped. Unfortunately, the last big twist is so obvious, you can see it coming
down Broadway, proceeded by a marching band. Honestly, it is annoying to twist
yourself into a pretzel to avoid revealing plot turns that Shepard and
co-screenwriters Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder give away through sheer lack
of subtlety. On the other hand, the first act shocker that seems to bother
people makes perfect sense within the context of the film.
Be
that as it may, Allison Williams and Logan Browning both have gloriously
unhinged moments as Willmore and Wells, respectively. It is not just them.
Almost everyone seen on-screen eventually has their go-for-broke scenes. That is
especially true of Steven Weber, who chews the scenery without guilt or restraint.
We know he is a clay-footed hypocrite, because: #1: he is an authority figure, #2:
he represents the elitist refinement of Western Culture, and #3: he is a man.
While
the maniacal Bette Davis-Joan Crawford claw-fighting is jolly fun, the real
guts of the film is pretty darned exploitative. Obviously, it is inspired by
news stories like the U.S. Gymnastics scandal, but the vibe is shamelessly
lurid. There is a fine line demarcating forthright topicality from crass cash-ins,
but The Perfection swerves
back-and-forth across it, like a drunk driver barreling down an empty country
highway.
Thanks
to the impressive commitment of Williams, Browning, and Weber, The Perfection starts off the rails and
careens further into bedlam with each scene. You have to enjoy the madness,
like a marginally more grounded Suspiria (the
new one), but it doesn’t have the depth or wider cultural significance it
thinks it does (but who wants those things in a horror movie or a
psycho-thriller anyway?). Recommended as a fasten-your-seat-belts-its-going-to-be-a-bumpy-night
kind of stream, The Perfection premieres
today on Netflix.
