Certificate: 15
Running Time: 101 mins
UK Distributor: MUBI
WHO’S IN MEDUSA DELUXE?
Clare Perkins, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Kayla Meikle, Kae Alexander, Harriet Webb, Darrell D’Silva, Luke Pasqualino, Heider Ali, Lilit Lesser, Nicholas Karimi, Debris Stevenson, John Alan Roberts
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Thomas Hardiman (director, writer), Michael Elliott, Lee Groombridge and Louise Palmkvist Hansen (producers), Robbie Ryan (cinematographer), Fouad Gaber (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A hairdressing contest is interrupted by a mysterious murder…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON MEDUSA DELUXE?
Last year saw an embarrassment of riches in murder-mystery cinema, with hits like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Death on the Nile, See How They Run and Bodies Bodies Bodies all offering their own unique takes on the classic whodunnit ensemble caper. Now, debut feature filmmaker Thomas Hardiman throws his own mystery-laden hat into the ring with Medusa Deluxe, an engagingly flamboyant film that takes a pair of scissors and trims the genre with a visually engaging, but narratively light, new look.
The film largely takes place over the course of an evening, at the venue of a regional hairdressing competition where a number of rival stylists, including the fiercely unfiltered Cleve (Clare Perkins) and sly opportunist Kendra (Harriet Webb), have gathered to compete against each other with extremely meticulous hairdos. Unfortunately, by the time the film has begun, the event has been called off after one of the stylists has been found dead on the premises, and even more disturbingly has had their head scalped by the culprit for unknown reasons. The remaining coiffeurs and their models are left to play detective as they try to figure out who among them would have the audacity to commit such a brutal murder, all the while revealing secrets about themselves which soon have them at each other’s throats – well, more than they already were – and leaving competition organiser Rene (Darrell D’Silva) to deal with external issues such as the victim’s bereaved partner Angel (Luke Pasqualino) and their infant son, both of whom have also showed up for the potential bloodbath.
You might have already heard that the biggest selling point of Medusa Deluxe, other than its unique setting for the murder-mystery itself, is that the film was shot and edited to look like one continuous take, putting it in the same stylistic camp as Birdman, 1917, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (among numerous others). The feat in and of itself, as you will perhaps have already witnessed in those other examples, is a heavily ambitious one for any filmmaker to try and pull off, and here it’s very well executed by writer-director Hardiman, his editor Fouad Gaber who near-seamlessly stitches these lengthy takes together, and especially cinematographer Robbie Ryan who, on top of ensuring that everything from the lighting to the Steadicam movement is consistent and endlessly moving, goes a little further by framing the entire thing within a boxed-in 4:3 aspect ratio.
It’s a flashy method that gives Medusa Deluxe a stylistic flare that brings about more immediacy and a stronger sense of eeriness than your average whodunnit, as the camerawork constantly floats around conversations shared between numerous characters, and then follows them across the empty backstage hallways and into different areas like dressing rooms or grungy bathrooms. It gives ghostly vibes, like you’re a unseen spirit from another realm observing mortal beings, and Hardiman’s direction more than often finds some sticky focal points to you to latch onto so that the eerie dream-like atmosphere can be grounded in some kind of reality, no matter how extravagant and theatrical some of it can be. This can be either a nifty piece of editing trickery, such as one that appears to go from an exterior crane shot and through a high-up window, or a passionate performance by a member of the entertaining ensemble cast (Clare Perkins gets some wonderfully heated moments, while others like Luke Pasqualino get good mileage out of what could easily have been a campy stereotype), or even one of the hilariously OTT hairstyles that these contestants have whipped up.
However, for all of its visual prowess, the central narrative leaves a bit to be desired. The murder-mystery angle itself isn’t really much of a mystery, as it’s signposted very early on who the culprit actually is, and their motivations hardly result in a satisfying conclusion (which is thankfully saved by an extravagantly choreographed dance number set to George McCrae’s “Don’t You Feel My Love”). Since its central concept is so easy to figure out, which a murder-mystery in general should not really be, it makes much of the rest of the film seem like a waiting game before the characters in the film come to the same correct conclusion as you already have, and there’s only so much backstabbing and pettiness one can take before enough is enough.
Furthermore, the way that the film is written, with heavy dialogue that is exceedingly theatrical in its presentation, and a frequent shifting from one small location to the next with an equally limited number of cast members, makes me think that perhaps this material would have been better suited for the stage rather than the screen. It honestly makes a bit more sense, because the actors are already delivering their heavily-written monologues and duologues like they’re performing in front of a live audience, the frequent interludes with characters going between different rooms could easily be replicated with certain staging, and the aforementioned dance sequence that concludes the film feels designed by nature to get cheers and clap-alongs as you would do at a stage musical. You keep mentally picturing the theoretical staging of a Medusa Deluxe stage production more than you are watching the actual film, which can prevent you from appreciating it as the piece of cinema it was (seemingly) always intended to be.
You might not get the thrills and suspense of a regular murder-mystery with this film, but if you want an amusing enough ride with heavy technical ambition and a pleasant sense of flamboyance, then Medusa Deluxe should be the cut that you’re after.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Medusa Deluxe is an amusingly flamboyant murder-mystery that boasts an impressive one-shot filmmaking technique, which just about makes up for the fact that it isn’t a particularly compelling mystery.
