Perfect is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Eddie Alcazar from a screenplay by Ted Kupper, based on Alcazar’s storyline. The Brainfeeder Films production stars Garrett Wareing, Abbie Cornish, Courtney Eaton, Tao Okamoto and Leonardo Nam.
Plot:
Vessel 13 (Garrett Wareing), an emotionally-troubled young man, is sent to a clinic, whispering soothing promises of perfection. By planting characteristics directly into his own body, he’s relieved of his dark visions but pays the price for purity of mind…
Reviews:
” …highly likely to polarize audiences: those seeking cheap thrills may view the experience and its lack of concrete ‘answers’ as style over substance, while others are equally likely to embrace the film’s abstract metaphors and avant-garde approach to film-making.” Jeannie Blue, Cryptic Rock
“Perfect is a polarizing movie experience that would have benefited immensely from a stronger script. But regardless, you will be sucked into its hypnotic visual vortex, leaving you asking for more. A Jodorowsky-esque brain-melter that is worth your time, if you are up for the challenge.” Hasitha Fernando, Flickering Myth
“The pacing is slow and teases with flashbacks to a more primitive race. Vessel 13 has visions of being a tribal king, or god-like figure, that slaughters others. However, even with these sometimes disturbing images, the movie leaves you wanting more. More answers. More closure.” Brian Williams, The Hollywood Outsider
“The events in this movie felt so abrupt and unexplained, I couldn’t make them work as a story in my head. I’ve heard people say that moviemaking is like putting a puzzle together. Perfect‘s puzzle pieces were shocking and awe-inspiring, fascinating to look at on their own. But I couldn’t fit them together.” Grant DeArmitt, Nightmare on Film Street
” …Perfect offers an unsettling, narcissistic, even solipsistic journey into selfhood, where the doctors are also patients, personal development is also devolution, and love – if it exists at all – is a necessary, salutary delusion. Meanwhile, Perfect lives up to its title with breathtaking, hallucinatory visuals, and Flying Lotus’ estranging electro score.” Anton Bitel, Projected Figures
” …this is a grab bag of half-baked ideas, potentially tantalizing plot developments that go nowhere, and agonizingly portentous dialogue that never pulls it together. Perfect simply has its sheer weirdness going for it, but that just isn’t enough to cover for its other deficiencies.” Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com
“The film feels like an excuse to corral a bunch of good-looking people together at a hip location and fashion a variety of lurid pillow shots. That’s not an inherently unpromising desire, though Alcazar can’t lay off the self-aggrandizing mumbo jumbo, and a sense of humor would’ve helped.” Chuck Bowen, Slant magazine
Cast and characters:
- Garrett Wareing … Vessel 13
- Abbie Cornish … Mother
- Courtney Eaton … Sarah
- Tao Okamoto … Ozawa
- Leonardo Nam … Haskell
- Martin Sensmeier … The Harvester
- Maurice Compte … Doctor Price
- Rainey Qualley … Perl
- Alicia Sanz … Laurel
- Sarah McDaniel … Python
- Julia Morrison … Julia
- Hailee Keanna Lautenbach … IPL
- Victor Ortiz … Androstenedione
- Flying Lotus … Keeper – also composed the soundtrack score
- Cazzey Louis Cereghino … Estriol
Film Facts:
The film’s working title was Puberty.
