This has the cast (all great, such a fun, eclectic group of talented people who mesh nicely), the needle drops (Mannequin Pussy!!!!!), and the dry, empty small town aesthetics to really shine. Perfect could have been perfect, if not for the fact the film sheds its most interesting aspects (a historic drought and widespread water contamination) in favor of leaning heavily on overplayed toxic lesbian tropes. My inclination is to assume the film moves away from its dystopian foundation due to budget constraints, but that’s what makes it all the more frustrating! The first act establishes the hardships of this world really nicely through relatively simple means and it could have sustained that sense of tense, impending doom quite well had it tried.Will add though that I think the opening sequence has a lot of interesting similarities to the opening to Josephine Decker’s latest, Chasing Summer.
