Medusa Deluxe, review
Medusa Deluxe
UK release: 9 June 2023
Director: Thomas Hardiman
Starring: Clare Perkins, Kayla Meikle, Lilit Lesser
Review by Sarah Edwards
If hell is other people, one of its lower circles is bound to be a hairstyling competition. Medusa Deluxe (2022) wanders through the halls of a cancelled regional competition after one of the stylists, Mosca is found dead with his scalp missing. In the aftermath of the discovery, the film follows the conniving competitors and their models as they puzzle through Mosca’s mysterious murder and plenty of drama of their own.
The three surviving stylists in the competition are each a particular flavour of unhinged - Cleve (Clare Perkins) is hot-headed and prone to violence. Kendra (Harriet Webb) is willing to do anything - short of murder, of course - to win. Devoutly religious, Divine (Kayla Meikle) is unsettlingly calm in contrast to the others’ explosive personalities. Year after year, these stylists return to compete, hoping it will finally be their year to shine. The death of their colleague is disappointing only so far as it pushes their dreams of winning off another year.
Their models, while sweeter, can’t resist stirring the pot in their own ways, from gossip to stalking suspects around the building's winding passageways.
Combined with Rene (Darrell D’Silva), the desperate-for-affection head of the competition, and Gac (Heider Ali), the spacey, dissociating security guard, there are more than enough strange personalities to carry the film. For most of the run time, the mystery at the heart of the murder takes a back seat to the interpersonal drama that comes from shoving so many people, who don’t seem to like each other very much, in such a tight space.
Fans of the murder mystery genre are likely to be disappointed by the twists and turns of Medusa Deluxe, which establishes a key suspect early on in the film and does little to convince the audience that things are headed anywhere other than straight down the most direct path. All of the stylists seem ready to kill each other at any point, but they never feel like they’re truly out for blood. Or anyone’s scalp for that matter.
The late arrival of Mosca’s lover, Angel (Luke Pasqualino), to the competition feels like it should completely change the game. While he is technically essential to uncovering the truth of the murder, his most significant contribution is bringing Pablo into the mix. The darling child of the two lovers, Pablo is by far the cutest member of the cast.
The entire film is meant to appear as if shot in a single take. Everyone is constantly in motion, moving from one room to another - to trade secrets, style hair, or clean up mysterious streaks of blood - and we follow them as unseen eavesdroppers. Though it could have been an easy gimmick to disguise a lack of greater creativity, this choice adds depth, and the film would not be the same without it.
The lack of cuts make the events feel like they’re playing out in real time over a whirlwind of an hour and a half. Combined with the more theatrical performances (nobody would call Cleve’s opening monologue a natural conversation), the overall feel is closer to a play than what you’d traditionally expect from a movie.
One could almost imagine this all playing out in London’s West End, if the claustrophobic nature of the building’s twisting passages and cramped rooms weren’t so central to the vibe. The oversaturated colours and shifts in lighting make it feel as if the space expands and contracts over the film, closing in as the tension is just about to boil over and eerily quiet in the moments of calm. The brief ventures outside the building are a much-needed breath of fresh air.
If not exactly typical of the genre, nor completely satisfying in its conclusion, Medusa Deluxe is an adventure in its own right. There’s a compelling strangeness about the whole experience worth taking part in, at least at a safe enough distance to keep your wig on.