The Perfection

The Perfection

Starring Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman

Directed by Richard Shephard

The Story:
As a young child, Charlotte (Allison Williams) was a cello prodigy, invited to live and learn at the prestigious Bachoff school until her mother fell ill, and she left the school to take care of her.  Decades later her mother dies, and Charlotte reunites with Anton (Steven Weber) and his wife Paloma (Alaina Huffman), who ran the Bachoff school.  She meets Lizzie (Logan Browning), who became the cellist that Charlotte wanted to be, and as the two begin to form a friendship and relationship, the two women find themselves embattled with their pasts that threaten their future.

The Synopsis:
Going into "The Perfection," I didn't really hear a lot about it other than sporadic word-of-mouth, and from what I heard it seemed right up my ally - a combination of "Black Swan" and "Whiplash" that meets with several twists and turns that ultimately sends the film careening down a never-ending mountain of sheer insanity.  And that is exactly what I got - this is one of those films where it's better to go in blind and not knowing what to expect than to know pretty much every plot point beforehand, because it's truly an unnerving, psychologically torturous film that will not be easy to forget.

The heart of the film lies with the lead actresses Allison Williams and Logan Browning, who, like the title suggests, give perfection to their performances.  You never quite know what's going on in either woman's mind, and that's the driving force of the film - what shaped them into the women they are now, what will they do to maintain that prestige, and what dark secrets do they hide behind their expressive eyes?  The film plays out like a roadmap of insanity, and as you'd expect from a roadmap of that caliber, it's not a defining clear line.  There were several moments I was pleasantly shocked, and others that I was pleasantly unnerved, but then again I'm a strange individual.

There's several moments in the film that offer a truly claustrophobic experience, and I won't spoil them by explaining them, but trust me you'll know them when you see them.  The performances are also so real and biting that you feel like you're experiencing the same issues the characters were.  The film also tackles important issues that you wouldn't expect from a thriller of this caliber, and all that combines to make a truly unforgettable film, no matter how badly you might want to forget.

The Summary:
If you go into the film blind, you'll find "The Perfection" to be a nearly perfect psychological thriller that takes many twists and turns you don't see coming, culminating in an unforgettable shocking conclusion.

The Score: A