As originality goes, I have to say Jennifer Reeder’s Perpetrator is certainly up there in 2023.
We just don’t have enough horror that leans into the pure terror of doppelgangers and shapeshifters. Jordan Peele opened the doors for this, but Perpetrator blows the doors off.
Add to this the genre comeback of Alicia Silverstone, who while being unhinged in all the wrong ways in the woeful The Requin, is a scene stealer here.
Silverstone plays the relative of Jonny, a teen girl with a complicated bloodline who comes to realise she has special abilities. This is expertly timed, as there is a killer on the loose who is hunting girls at her high school.
Perpetrator is a mish-mash of supernatural horror blended with a queer coming-of-age story. Reeder just manages to balance the tones out to make this unpredictable but also engrossing.
There is a whodunit element to proceedings and even when you think you’ve got it sussed, the film throws in some curveballs.
Perpetrator is multi-layered, sharply written certainly a highlight of 2023 thus far.
Perpetrator is streaming now on Shudder.
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