Netflix’s New Psychological Thriller The Perfection Airs Today

Netflix

There’s really nothing like a stonking good psychological thriller to accompany your Friday night takeaway, with plenty of clever twists and turns to keep you glued to your sofa.

The best types are the ones that really get under your skin, humming away in your subconscious for days afterwards. There will be scenes which make you shudder, but you will relish every spine-tingling moment.

That’s why I’m looking forward to Netflix’s latest disturbing offering, a genuinely spooky looking film called The Perfection. Even the trailer – packed with creepy crawlies and jarring cello chords – has made me feel a bit nervous, in the best possible way.

Starring Allison Williams (Get Out) and Logan Browning (Dear White People), this is a dark and disquieting tale of sinister obsessions, prodigious talents and interrupted lives.

Williams and Browning play two gifted cello players who meet and hit it off in Shanghai, and decide to take a trip together through rural China. However – of course – nothing is quite as it seems.

The Perfection is directed by Richard Shepard (The Matador), with an original script co-written by Eric Charmelo, Nicole Snyder and Shepard.

At first glance, the trailer looks pure body horror, with insects wriggling under skin and blood-curdling cries abound. There’s even an meat cleaver bared on a lonely road, with more than a whiff of gory dismemberment to come.

However, the cast have been keen to place this movie firmly within the psychological thriller genre, with Williams telling Today:

These movies [Get Out and The Perfection] are psychological thrillers, they’re not like horror movies like you’re going to be checking under your bed before you go to sleep.

It is much more psychological and deeply human, which may be even more scary.

Netflix

At the time of writing, The Perfection holds a 75 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 16 reviews.

Many critics have enjoyed the unexpected nature of the narrative which keeps you guessing until the very end, written with a darkly humorous streak which continually challenges and subverts expectations.

Eric Eisenberg from Cinemablend described the film as ‘a tremendous piece of modern horror filmmaking and an epically satisfying experience’, while Alex Huntsberger from Consequence of Sound praised it as being a ‘hell of a journey; truly, this movie is a wild-ass ride’.

Those who have already watched the final moments of the movie have advised its best to dive in without knowing too much about the plot.

However, according to the IMDb description, the basic premise is as follows:

When troubled musical prodigy Charlotte (Allison Williams) seeks out Elizabeth (Logan Browning), the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.

Right, that’s the first movie of my lazy weekend sorted…

You can stream The Perfection on Netflix from today, May 24.

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.