Suddenly, everyone on the planet begins to have a meltdown of their collective senses. Everything that we take for granted, every single day, gets thrown into chaos; unexpected fits of rage, compulsive eating, spontaneous deafness, loss of taste, and sudden blindness.
Directed with extreme care and control by the eclectic filmmaker David Mackenzie (Starred Up, Spread, Hell or High Water, The Outlaw King), Perfect Sense was an IFC release in 2011 that went totally under the radar, but it’s worth seeking out for its distinctive premise within a well-traveled sub-genre, and to watch the riveting performances from Ewan McGregor and Eva Green.
They play a newly formed romantic couple who experience the strange and unprompted physiological breakdowns, and to watch them spiral out of control in front of each other feels oddly personal and all together surreal at times.
The final moments of the film sting with intended irony and there’s a level of intensity to be found throughout this entire film that helps to ratchet up the emotional and visceral tension, especially during the numerous scenes of people suffering the sensory breakdowns.
The sleek cinematography is courtesy of Giles Nuttgens and the chilling musical score was supplied by Max Richter. This is a very tough film to sum up in words, but trust me, I don’t think there are too many other efforts like this one out there, and if there are, I’d love to know about them.
Review by Nick Clement
Summary
Perfect Sense is a stylish, unnerving, and very underrated sort-of-apocalyptic drama/thriller with a very unique hook:
