Mubi
Shot in one continuous take, Alexander Sokurov’s 2002 period-piece fantasia Russian Ark was such a formal achievement that it inspired two decades’ worth of like-minded edit-free features. Medusa Deluxe is the latest to attempt that feat, or at least pretend to—as with many of its predecessors, there are a few instances where writer/director Thomas Hardiman has apparently used some stitching to give his material the appearance of seamlessness. Those potential cheats, however, are inconsequential when compared to this A24 import’s more serious shortcomings, all of which ultimately stem from its central gimmick.
Medusa Deluxe (in theaters Aug. 11) is set at a regional English hairdressing competition run by Rene (Darrell D’Silva) that has been wracked by a tragedy: the murder of Mosca (John Alan Roberts), a beloved competitor who was found scalped in a dressing room. In light of the tight-knit nature of this community, as well as the method used to end his life, Mosca’s demise has shaken everyone preparing to show off their fantastical ’dos on stage.
As befitting a whodunit, there are suspects galore, and Hardiman begins by introducing us to perhaps the most overtly suspicious of the bunch: Cleve (Clare Perkins), whose anger practically seeps out of her pores while she finishes up a crazy hairstyle on a model (it involves a glowing 18th-century Chinese ship) and curses at and threatens Divine (Kayla Meikle), a friend who’s recently re-embraced her Christian faith.