PLOT: A former musical prodigy seeks to re-enter the life of her former mentor and his new protégé.

There is a lot to be said for a movie that manages to surprise you, even more for a movie that surprises you multiple times. The Perfection manages to surprise its viewers at least four times, but with each twist, it starts to unravel. Regardless, it’s still an interesting time, but be forewarned: the movie you may think you’re watching is not going to be the movie you end up watching.

Without revealing too much, the film follows Allison Williams’ character Charlotte, a former musical prodigy who had to give up her career at a young age to care for her ailing mother. As her mother dies, Charlotte seeks out her former mentor and strikes up a relationship with his new protégé, Lizzie (Logan Browning). And that’s where things go fucking crazy.

This movie had me for most of its runtime. I thought the bus scene and the first major shift really worked and I thought everything from the start of the film to that reveal could have been the full story if it were fleshed out to a full length feature. The third act, however, felt a little on the nose and somewhat reactionary to current events. I’m fine with things being topical, but from where this movie starts and where it ends, there just seems to be too many tonal shifts to keep things together. But this is the conceit that this film relies on: major tonal shifts as plot points. And while some work, just as many don’t; this is the sword that the film lives and dies by.

OVERALL

I liked about two-thirds of this film’s runtime. The tonal shifts work well up until a point and then they start derailing their own story. The acting was quite well done from the leads, including Steven Weber, who played the mentor, Anton, but this movie winds up being all over the map. This movie starts out as a sort of pretentious thriller and then ends up a schlocky, blood-soaked, exploitation. By the end, I kind of wish I was still watching the movie that I started watching. Still, overall, it’s an interesting watch.

OVERALL RATING: 6.5 out of 10