Medusa Deluxe (Europe & UK, International)
Key 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
Director: Tom Hardiman
Producer: Lee Groombridge, Louise Palmkvist Hansen, Michael Elliott
Screenwriter: Tom Hardiman
Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan
Composer: Koreless
Scissors out! Someone literally slays at a hairdressing competition in this exuberant one-take murder mystery.
Horrifying news spreads rapidly through a labyrinthine studio where hairstylists and their models are prepping for an annual competition. Mosca, the stylist to beat, has been found dead – and scalped! But whodunnit? Mosca’s distraught husband Angel? Bequiffed event organiser Rene, who’s also Mosca’s ex? Maybe it was ferocious Cleve, who’s primping her spectacular ‘Georgian fontange’ updo and bitching with a filthy mouth to her serene frenemy Divine. Is Kendra just here for the tea? And what about that shady security guard who’s always borrowing wet wipes to clean blood off the lockers …
British writer/director Thomas Hardiman teases together Robert Altman (The Long Goodbye, MIFF 1999), Pedro Almodóvar (Pain and Glory, MIFF 2019) and Peter Greenaway (Nightwatching, MIFF 2008) on this dazzling ride through a larger-than-life subculture, which has received the tick of approval from taste-making distributor A24. As befits its story, Medusa Deluxe is a showcase for technical flair, with onscreen looks by real-life hair superstar Eugene Souleiman, who has worked with Björk, Lady Gaga and more, while cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite; Fish Tank, MIFF 2009) serves camerawork that is at once fluid and spectacular.
“An arresting and visually stunning achievement, Medusa Deluxe breaks the framework on storytelling … [and] leaves audiences guessing until the very end.” – IndieWire