Medusa Deluxe, 2023.
Written and Directed by Thomas Hardiman.
Starring Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Clare Perkins, Darrell D’Silva, Debris Stevenson, Harriet Webb, Heider Ali, Kae Alexander, Kayla Meikle, Lilit Lesser, Luke Pasqualino, Nicholas Karimi, and John Alan Roberts.
SYNOPSIS:
A murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing contest. Extravagance and excess collide, as the death of a contestant sows seeds of division in a community whose passion for hair verges on obsession.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Medusa Deluxe wouldn’t exist.
For some greater context on the woefully misguided direction from Thomas Hardiman (also writing the script) on Medusa Deluxe, I am personally a sucker for extended, unbroken long takes. It doesn’t matter if it’s necessary for the plot or if the stitches signifying cuts are not hidden well; it is simply a filmmaking technique I find immersive and engaging. On the surface, it also does make sense why Thomas Hardiman would experiment with shooting this whodunit as one lengthy scene following the different characters and suspects around for 90 minutes (which begin to feel like 900 the longer the movie goes on.)
However, the issue is that Medusa Deluxe is not the kind of mystery where these characters are getting picked off left and right, which is where lengthy one-takes would have added suspense. A character might be walking around from point A to point B, but something sinister might happen along the way. After about 20 minutes, it becomes increasingly clear that nothing bad is going to happen to these characters on their walks around this hairdressing contest building, meaning that a good chunk of this experience is literally watching people walk around, doing nothing, with nothing for viewers to do but admire the lighting and the detailed production design.
As for the major players and potential suspects here, Rene (Darrell D’Silva) is running the hairdressing competition and is in a relationship with Angel (Luke Pasqualino). There are some suspicions that the murder, where the man was also scalped, may have been rigging the competition alongside stylist Kendra (Harriet Webb). There is also a security guard played by Heider Ali, who seems rattled and with something heavy on his mind. Then there are other hairstylists (Clare Perkins) and models (Lilit Lesser) openly having back-and-forths, spreading information about what they know. These details carry from room to room and character to character, with practically no suspense.
The other significant frustration here is that many of the actors are giving a performance, rarely coming across as authentic. There are some touching moments once a love story is gradually revealed in the background, but for the most part, the dialogue here is stilted, and the acting is amateurish. Without spoiling much, the revelation of a specific kind of drug comes into play, with the narrative intending to comment on the importance and significance of hair. Unfortunately, by the time the film gets around to doing this, the brain has long checked out of processing or engaging in anything happening on screen.
There isn’t much depth to any of these characters, but there is an entertaining dance number over the ending credits, which is one area the long take does work. It’s also fair to say that there is a compelling story to tell in Medusa Deluxe about the catty and jealous dynamics of the competitive hairdressing world crafted as a murder mystery, but Thomas Hardiman has enacted that with all style, losing whatever substance in the script he wanted to bring to the table.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
