''Perfect'' is a 2018 American science fiction thriller film directed by Eddie Alcazar in his feature length debut and starring Garrett Wareing,

Courtney Eaton Courtney Eaton (born 6 January 1996) is an Australian actress. She is known for her supporting roles as Ava in the 2019 film ''Line of Duty'', Cheedo the Fragile in the 2015 film '' Mad Max: Fury Road'', and as Zaya in the 2016 film '' Gods of ...

Tao Okamoto , known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. She made her film debut as the female lea ...

, Maurice Compte, and

Abbie Cornish Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in '' Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in '' Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' ( ...

. The film had its premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

on March 11, 2018. It was released in the United States on May 17, 2019.

Plot

A young man finds the corpse of his murdered girlfriend lying in the bed next to him. Having received a call from him, his mother takes him to a genetic-engineering clinic, where the patients transform their bodies and minds.

Cast

* Garrett Wareing as Vessel 13 *

as Sarah *

as Ozawa * Maurice Compte as Dr. Price *

as Mother *

Martin Sensmeier Martin Sensmeier (born June 27, 1985) is an American actor and model. Of Alaska Native and European-American descent, he is known for playing various Native American roles. He starred in the 2016 remake ''The Magnificent Seven'' and had a recurr ...

as The Harvester *

Rainey Qualley Rainey Qualley (born March 11, 1989) is an American actress and singer. The daughter of actress Andie MacDowell and sister of actress Margaret Qualley, she made her acting debut in the 2012 film ''Mighty Fine''. She is best known for her music, w ...

as Perl *

Leonardo Nam Leonardo Nam (born November 5, 1979) is an Australian actor. He made his breakthrough as Roy in '' The Perfect Score'' (2004), and gained further recognition for his roles as Morimoto in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and Bria ...

as Haskell

Production

The film's working title was ''Puberty''. The project was unveiled by

Brainfeeder Films Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, T ...

at the 2016

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more tha ...

. Part of the filming took place at the

Sheats–Goldstein Residence The Sheats–Goldstein Residence is a home designed and built between 1961 and 1963 by American architect John Lautner in the Beverly Crest, Los Angeles, Beverly Crest neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, a short distance up the hill from th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flying Lotus h ...

wrote the score for the film.

Release

The film had its premiere at

on March 11, 2018. SingularDTV subsequently acquired the worldwide rights to the film. It was released theatrically in the United States on May 17, 2019. It was released through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

on Breaker on June 21, 2019. In

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, the film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

by Nonstop Entertainment in January 2020.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Peter Sobczynski of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing, "Eddie Alcazar's movie is ambitious enough, but it's the work of a would-be visionary without any clear vision." John DeFore of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' wrote: "While some will embrace the shards as a

Shane Carruth Shane Carruth (born 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, composer, and actor. He is the writer, director, and co-star of the prize-winning science-fiction film ''Primer'' (2004), which was his debut feature. His second film, '' Upstrea ...

-like brain-teaser, the movie is ultimately too reflective of its genetically-engineered subjects — soulless under an entrancing veneer." Amy Nicholson of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' commented that Eddie Alcazar and Flying Lotus are "fixated on body horror, vanity, breaking good-taste boundaries, and blurring the lines between feature film, music video, and art installation." Chuck Bowen of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, writing, "Eddie Alcazar's ''Perfect'' is the sort of purposefully inscrutable, wandering, disconnected, symbolic, and highly precious mood bath that you'll either adore or loathe." Jeff Ewing of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' called it "surreal and complex, with the natural beauty of the surroundings alternating with body horror and psychedelic interludes."

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title 2018 films 2018 directorial debut films Blockchain art American science fiction thriller films Films shot in California 2010s science fiction thriller films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films