The Perfection (2018)

The Perfection is the kind of thriller that grabs you by the lapels and refuses to behave, folding classical-music elegance into a feverish, darkly funny nightmare with the confidence of a film that knows exactly how far it wants to go. Richard Shepard directs with slick, sinister style, letting every polished rehearsal-room surface hide something sharp underneath, while Allison Williams and Logan Browning give fiercely committed performances that keep the story grounded even as it swerves into jaw-dropping territory. It’s unpredictable in the best way—less a straight line than a series of escalating crescendos—so the tension stays electric and the wit lands like a nervous laugh you didn’t expect to make. Fair warning: the violence is graphic and the themes are disturbing, so it’s not for the squeamish, but if you want an engrossing, boldly excessive ride that actually has something to say beneath the shock, this one’s hard to shake.

The Perfection is trying to be a slick, twisty revenge-thriller wrapped in highbrow music drama, and it absolutely commits to going for your throat. The problem is that it leans so hard on shock pivots and grotesque set pieces that the characters’ psychology can feel like an afterthought, making the “surprises” more exhausting than satisfying. It also uses sexual abuse as a major engine for the story, and if you’re sensitive to that subject—or you want horror that feels earned rather than engineered—this can come off as nasty and misguided. That said, Allison Williams and Logan Browning are game, the pacing is propulsive, and if you like audacious, boundary-pushing B-movie energy dressed up as prestige, you may find it perversely entertaining.