Ambitious Horror Perpetrator (2023) Gets Lost in Its Metaphors and Satire
Title: Perpetrator
First Non-Festival Release: September 1, 2023 (Digital/Streaming Platforms)
Director: Jennifer Reeder
Writer: Jennifer Reeder
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Starring: Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Lowell
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Blame has been unfairly placed on women for failing to adhere to societal standards of safety no matter how hard they may try. What if there was a way to even the playing field and fight back?
Just before her 18th birthday, Mia (Kiah McKirnan) is sent to live with her Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone) while her father Gene (Tim Hopper) works on his mental health issues. Once there, Mia begins noticing strange things occurring with herself and is perplexed at the social norms surrounding safety for girls and women in her new city. Amidst the ever-present fear that a serial killer will attack, how can Mia survive these last few weeks before entering adulthood and never returning?
Provocative and intriguing yet frustratingly uneven, Perpetrator gets too lost in the weeds of its various subplots and themes to be effective.
Nothing is more frustrating than a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be, and Perpetrator takes a million different perspectives before settling on nothing in the end. There is a main plot of a serial killer abducting women balanced with worldbuilding a supernatural presence/creature that can stop it all tied up in the coming-of-age of a young woman with the bite of a regular teen comedy. It’s overwhelming. This is exacerbated by the fact that Perpetrator vacillates between seriousness and sincerity before leaning full into camp in the next moment. This is primarily the result of the cast playing it straight too often, but the script warrants the criticism too. Above all, the central mystery is so easy to pick apart, that it falls down the most obvious paths despite throwing in some curve balls for Mia’s ordeal.
Perpetrator wears its feminist themes proudly on its sleeves and moments of brilliance shine through in shades of camp and snark. Mia’s journey of turning into an adult is met with her beginning to understand her powers of mirroring feelings of others. Her superpower for staying alive is her empathy and ability to stay in tune with her feelings, and others. This correlates well with the idea that women must be hyperaware of their surroundings and particularly men’s feelings to survive dangerous situations, and even mundane ones too. The entire film is awash in this idea that girls and women alone are responsible for their protection and that isn’t how it has to be. Ideas of beauty standards, misuse of authority, and menstrual imagery add more dimension to the depth of confusion and fear that young women must battle. Perhaps one of the best aspects of Perpetrator is how much there is to dissect after watching.
Kiah McKirnan is front and center delivering an audacious performance that reaches for the stars even if it doesn’t quite get there every time. Tasked with handling much of the film’s emotional work, McKirnan showcases a wide range of emotions that get a glimpse of the vulnerable underbelly of Mia’s chaotic upbringing and destiny. At times, this can be shaky, but McKirnan shows how fearless she is in truly going for it with full use of her body and face to handle the pressure of such a dynamic character.
Stylistic and innovative in its visual storytelling, Perpetrator splashes horror onto the screen in sweet little morsels. Implementing some truly spellbinding cinematography, director/writer Jennifer Reeder makes Perpetrator look much more expensive than it surely is. Mirroring the tumultuous world that Mia lives in, Reeder oftentimes splinters the frame into many smaller fragments showing how fractured Mia is in the process of coming into her own. Awash in deep metaphors for womanhood, particularly when Mia bleeds from using her powers or when exploring the worlds created from those pools of blood, Reeder explores how connected these ideas are to Mia’s sense of self. Visually, it’s stunning and immersive while still returning to the central themes.
Much credit to Jennifer Reeder for being unafraid to tackle such a unique project even if all the threads don’t connect in the end. Perpetrator is stylish and meaty film with plenty of areas to inspect with a magnifying glass for good measure. Unfortunately, its odd tonal issues and clunky narrative make it a difficult recommendation. For those seeking out something original and challenging, look no further than this behemoth of an indie film. Just know that mileage may vary to the answers you are seeking once it concludes.
Overall Score? 5/10
