'Medusa Deluxe' Review: Dirty Rotten Stylists
R: Language throughout, some sexual references, and brief drug use
Runtime: 1 Hour and 41 Minutes
Production Companies: BBC Film, BFI, EMU Films, Time BaseTime-Basedd Arts
Distributor: A24
Director: Thomas Hardiman
Writer: Thomas Hardiman
Cast: Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Clare Perkins, Darrell D'Silva, Debris Stevenson, Harriet Webb, Heider Ali, Kae Alexander, Kayla Meikle, Lilit Lesser, Luke Pasqualino, Nicholas Karimi
Release Date: August 11, 2023
In Theaters and VOD
Set within the confines of an English performance center where a competitive hairdressing contest takes place, a terrifying, gory murder of a contestant has occurred. Through a singular one-shot sweeping through backstage dressing rooms, locker rooms, and more, the eccentric stylists try to figure out who committed the crime.
Medusa Deluxe finds first-time feature writer/director Thomas Hardiman taking the murder mystery genre to the high excess of hairdressing. His strength resides mainly in the screenplay, where Hardiman immediately throws the audience into the slimy cesspool of salon ladies who discuss the details of this deadly murder while framing it as if it was gossip. Hardiman spent countless hours in a salon, taking in nothing but good ol' tea––while probably drinking tea because he's British. The atmosphere in the room is chatty yet chill. Led by short-tempered experienced dresser Cleve (a showstopping Clare Perkins), the dialogue between the people behind the chair (and in it) does much of the film's heavy lifting. As the rumors spread, Hardiman's darkly comedic tone is enhanced by engaging drama added by the characters’ eccentricities.
The script certainly has a stagey theatricality, but there's a slight cinematic aura in following the many characters going from one corridor to another, getting backstories of the deceased figure and how each suspect connects to him. It's like watching VR Among Us with a hairdressing theme and British accents. That said, it's one of those movies where you have to take notes on every detail to determine who's sus because you know somebody in the big-ass theater space committed the crime.
Hardiman's direction uses the single-shot gimmick a little too late to impress, but where it shines is its credits, which feature an incredible ensemble dance number full of energy and flashy extravagance. As if you're watching the ending number of a Mamma Mia movie or the intro credits of Peacemaker, the number is magnetizing as every cast member sashays this dance flawlessly. I want to see Rian Johnson try to end his next Knives Out Mystery flick with an elaborate dance number.
It's been nearly a decade since Iñárritu made Birdman, which took the single-shot narrative technique to new heights with a superb screenplay. Since then, every filmmaker who tried to do the same has lessened the style's value. Medusa Deluxe adds to that sentiment because its one-shot feels more gimmicky than inspired, doing its character-driven screenplay no favors, the antithesis of Hardiman's intention. The camera often does dizzying 360 spins around the characters who either marinate in information or spread gossip, which quickly becomes repetitious.
Several moments feature multiple people in the same frame, arguing or fighting, evoking a claustrophobic feel. Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between. Sometimes a character walks out of the room and into another area, or a shot ends, and another begins by someone walking through corridors. It's the equivalent of playing an open-world PS5 game that doesn't have loading screens but compensates by having a character squeeze through alleys to get from one territory to another. We know where the loading is, and you aint slick. It's the same with the timed cuts. Often, shots where the beauty-oriented characters walk down halls and linger for about a minute or so pad out the already short runtime.
Hardiman's script, which surprisingly stirs a theme about masculinity and beauty, shares a dark sense of humor, but the characters—outside of Cleve and Jesus freak Divine (Kayla Meikle)—provide little personality outside the stereotypes that come with the territory. But a murder mystery is only as good as the suspects' distinctive personalities, bringing me back to the one-shot gimmick, which robs the potential for the characters' personalities to add extra oomph.
Medusa Deluxe's gimmicky presentation prevents the screenplay from being fully dressed up, but writer/director Thomas Hardiman's darkly comedic script makes for a decent calling card for a debut feature.
