Movies
Act One of ‘The Perfection’ Is the Scariest Bug Horror Movie Ever
We have a double theme going on here at Horror Press this month. In addition to working to highlight horror movies with actual queer characters for Pride Month, we are also diving deep into the wriggly, creepy-crawly world of bug movies. Now, there are two distinct movies that come to mind that combine queer characters and bug terror. One of them you may just have read about last week, thanks to Luis: Swallowed. The other, which I’m here to talk about today, is a movie that I still have not entirely forgiven for playing my nervous system like a goddamn snare drum. That’s right, it’s time to break down 2018’s The Perfection.
This movie has many twists and turns, so if you haven’t seen it, here is your big spoiler warning! We’ll be freely spoiling the first half of this movie today, though there’s no need for us to go any further than that within the bounds of this discussion.
The Perfection Is Underrated As A Bug Horror Movie
In some ways, the first act of The Perfection feels like a counterintuitive choice as one of the best “bug horror” sequences of all time. Primarily, this is the case because the bugs don’t technically even exist in the universe of the movie. As is eventually revealed, everything bug-related is a hallucination brought on by drugs and the power of suggestion. After the movie’s first of several major abrupt swerves, the story moves on to an entirely different subject matter, and the bug motif is dropped like a hot stone.
However, when I think about watching that moment in the movie for the first time, all I remember is this palpable sense of relief. I felt like if the movie would have continued escalating the bug story for another 45 minutes, I might have literally exploded. That is because everything about the buildup to the crescendo of the opening act of the movie is perfectly calibrated to deliver the same sensations of escalating terror that poor Lizzie (Logan Browning) feels, thanks to the machinations of Charlotte (Allison Williams).
The Perfection Builds Tension Like No Other
There are so many things going right in The Perfection that make it such an effective bug movie, and one of those things is the fact that it isn’t a bug movie at all. This allows it to play with its bug element in unusual ways that even some of the best bug/creepy-crawly movies in history – such as Arachnophobia and the Creepshow segment “They’re Creeping Up on You!” – cannot do.
While the bug element is seeded about 10 to 15 minutes before it comes to the fore, so it feels like a natural conclusion to the buildup, the sudden intrusion of bugs into the scenario nevertheless feels like an invasion. This is definitely how the experience feels for Lizzie, and the way it is presented thrusts the audience directly into her visceral, physical experience.
Before bugs begin wriggling out of Lizzie’s vomit and bursting through the skin of her arm, the movie has already shown us a masterclass in building tension in various ways. The first is in showcasing the mounting sexual tension between Charlotte and Lizzie. The movie takes its time before even revealing that either is on the LGBTQ+ spectrum enough to even be into one another. After this point, which is another of the movie’s sudden, sharp shocks (and one of its most pleasurable), the story slowly, deliberately builds to a boil via words, touch, and one incredibly horny cello duet.
While their sex scene bursts the bubble of the mounting sexual tension, a new form of tension has already begun rising in the meantime. Shortly before their night in bed together, they witness a man falling ill from a real hemorrhagic fever that has been plaguing the area, planting the seeds of the chaos that is to come. That part of the story also builds beautifully, as Lizzie becomes sicker and sicker (and more and more desperate). Only then does the bug material come into play.
Why The First Act Of The Perfection Works So Well
The reason this sequence is so good at getting under your skin (so to speak) is that your nerves are already strained from every single scene that has led up to this, so the sudden and concentrated burst of pure bug terror allows every nightmare you’ve ever had about bugs surface all at once, each element spilling out over the others in its eagerness to terrify. This is something which movies that feature bugs for their full run times simply cannot do, because they are forced to have that tension ebb and flow instead.
The whole affair also comes as a shock because of the profound level of misdirection that is going on as to the plot of the film and the exact nature of Lizzie’s ailment. Said ailment also makes the bug story even more potent, because it effectively grounds the movie in a relatable physical reality. I assume everyone watching the movie has had a headache or a stomachache before (and if you haven’t, kudos). These are the first two symptoms that begin to bother her, which makes her peril intensely relatable from the jump.
Why The Perfection’s Relatable Horror Makes Its Bug Terror So Intense
As these symptoms escalate, the relatability continues. Even if people haven’t been in her exact situation, the fact that she is dangerously ill while in an isolated place, on a bus surrounded by strangers, provokes feelings of vulnerability that are very easy to empathize with. Naturally, the movie’s setting also stokes other fears of a more xenophobic nature, playing off of the vibes of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion by embracing many United States citizens’ fears that they will fall ill the second they step foot on foreign soil. But anyone who has been sick while on a trip far from home, or even while stuck in traffic on a commute, can put themselves in Lizzie’s shoes without feeling icky about it.
Up until the very moment that the bugs burst onto the scene, everything has been intensely grounded and realistic, so your brain naturally assumes the next step is going to be realistic, too. This is why that moment is so terrifyingly potent. You’re already prepared to believe the next thing that happens, and suddenly you’re being forced to believe that bugs are crawling beneath the surface of Lizzie’s skin. It’s a hell of a time.
Like I said at the top, this approach is especially powerful because it’s so concentrated, and it wouldn’t have worked if the movie was entirely about bugs the whole time. Plus, if the next two acts were about bugs and had to escalate from there, I wouldn’t be writing this right now, I’d be locked in a small closet with 18 bars of soap, clutching a can of Raid.
The holiday season is upon us, and I have a hard time feeling merry. After all, most of the Christmas horror movies are a little exclusionary outside of ignoring other cultural December festivities. Most of our go-to watches for this stretch of time have no room for POC, and especially Black women, in their picturesque settings. Which is why I took notice a few years ago when two genre movies gave me exactly what I wanted – a Black Girl Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Black Christmas (1974), Krampus (2015), and The Lodge as much as the next broken millennial. However, like most movies in this subgenre, we’re rarely seen unless it’s for a trope. We can be sidekicks or day players, but we cannot be involved in the central conflict. We cannot lead, but we can serve. Part of my deal as an intersectional horror lady is asking and looking for movies that do better. So, imagine my surprise when Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night and Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game not only remembered Black people exist, but specifically thought Black girls deserve some Christmas magic too.
Black Girls Deserve Christmas Magic Too
The Sacrifice Game is set in a 1970s boarding school where a handful of students are staying over Christmas break. The movie opens with a ritualistic massacre that pulls you in before introducing you to the core group at the school, though. Once in the halls of academia, which will obviously serve as the location for an impending blood bath, we meet Samantha (Madison Baines). Unlike most movies, this Black girl isn’t here for stereotypes and to be pushed to the fringes of the story. As she continues to survive this hellish night, we realize she might be the final girl. This hope is rewarded in the end when we watch her walk off to travel the world with her supernatural friend Clara (Georgia Acken). Because we have so few Christmas horror movies with Black girls getting to do anything, the movie heals something in me every year.
Violent Night is a completely different vibe than The Sacrifice Game. It’s more of an action-comedy with some cool kills and a supernatural thread. The movie is set on Christmas Eve, present day, as a group of mercenaries interrupts a wealthy family’s celebration. The team of naughty killers has the misfortune of starting their plot when Santa (David Harbour) is dropping off gifts. Santa also has a past and opens a can of whoop-ass to save the family as he bonds with the adorable Trudy (Leah Brady) over walkie-talkies. No matter how many mercenaries tell her Santa Claus isn’t real, Trudy knows that he is coming to save her because she’s on the nice list and has a direct line to him this Christmas. She gets to keep a children’s sense of wonder as her family’s infighting and the trained assassins try to ruin her Christmas.
Representation Really Matters
Samantha and Trudy might be in different subgenres and might be a few years apart, but they have plenty in common. Both are surrounded by white characters, although Trudy’s is her family. They are also both a little down in the dumps, as are most characters in holiday films. Samantha has just been told she will not be coming home for the holidays and is feeling discarded. Trudy’s parents are heading for a divorce, and her extended family is too focused on money to be supportive. So, both feel utterly alone during the most depressing time of year and need a win. When things get violently bad for both, it’s nice to see supernatural entities whisk in for some problem-solving and to save them.
That’s not to say that both of these resourceful girls don’t take out some of the intruders on their own. They just don’t have to do it all alone, and are not expected to save the day for everyone else. That’s right! We have two Black girls who get to be kids. I love the few movies where people actually help Black girls and women for a change. I want to live in world where that wasn’t such a rarity. It’s one of the reasons I loved A Quiet Place: Day One. I wish more films that did this were greenlit. Instead we get ones that continually waste talent like Alfre Woodard in Annabelle. Sadly, this is the world I have to live in.
Watch Both ASAP
It is also not wasted on me that both movies take a standard holiday setting and make it inclusive. We have so many all-girls boarding school set movies that have exclusively all white casts. Seeing Samantha not only exist in this creepy school where The Sacrifice Game is set, but survive it felt like a Christmas gift itself. Watching Trudy light up from excitement as she navigates this huge house in Violent Night made me think of Home Alone and all of the other Christmas movies I grew up with. Movies that refused to acknowledge that Black people exist and blended families might also celebrate the holidays. Again, both of these movies heal something every year.
Again, these movies have very little in common aside from the same holiday and understanding that Black girls deserve some holiday cheer, too. However, they are two of the very few movies that do this. Which is why both make it into my yearly rotation. Most other movies are soaking in white feminism. They may have a Black sidekick and creative teams who need to research colorism and anti-Blackness. However, they are somehow usually more offensive than being ignored entirely.
So, Trudy and Samantha getting a slice of the Christmastime magic so close together stood out to me. They both warm my cold little black heart. As I hope kids are sneaking in watches of these movies behind their parents’ backs. I know they both would have been in heavy rotation when I was a kid. If these kinds of movies were getting made back then, anyway. Ideally, we’ll see more movies like these someday.
Shudder could not care less if you have been naughty or nice. They are here to share their Season of Screams Holiday Programming with all the little ghouls. This year’s list of festive frights includes Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors, and Santa’s Slay. However, that is not all of the merriment and dismemberment the streamer is leaving under the tree for horror fans this December. Check out these five titles that I hope you all shove into your stockings this holiday season.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
A Christmas Tale (2005)
A group of kids discovers an injured thief while spending Christmas at a summer resort village. So, they obviously decide to torture the location of some stolen money out of her. I have been meaning to check this out just because it sounds wicked. However, it has also shot up my list because it is made by Paco Plaza (V/H/S/Halloween and Rec). If Plaza’s other works are any indication, this movie is going to be chaotic. I truly feel like if he cannot put us in the holiday spirit, then no one can. I am ready to have my peace disturbed this holiday season, and I am beyond grateful that Shudder thought of me. I recommend you buckle up and brace yourself if you also plan to take this ride this month. It’s going to be a ride!
You can watch A Christmas Tale on December 1st.
You Are Not Me (2024)
A woman returns home after three years and discovers her parents have replaced her with a stranger. I have questions, comments, and concerns after reading the premise. So, You Are Not Me has my full attention. I need answers to this puzzle that Shudder is gifting us, and I need them now. I plan to have a boozy festive beverage and get to the bottom of this bloody mystery as soon as possible. To make things even better, it is a Spanish supernatural horror movie. We all know nothing quite hits like an international movie, which is another reason why I expect good things from this one.
You can watch You Are Not Me on December 1st.
Wolf (2023)
A rich family becomes captives in an isolated country home where a psychopath forces them to play terrifying games. ‘Tis the season for home invasion movies after all! Shudder is dropping this exciting 6-part thriller from the UK, and I am already sat. I also discovered the series stars Sacha Dhawan from Doctor Who. This means I need to tune in every Tuesday until the finale, and I am welcome. I cannot wait to see how gory this gets, and I am so glad I can finally see it for myself. I am not saying this is the true meaning of Christmas. But I’m not not saying it is.
You can watch Wolf on December 2nd.
The Creep Tapes Christmas Episode (2025)
I am not writing about The Creep Tapes again just because I am obsessed with the show. I am drawing attention to the fact that they are giving us a Christmas episode this December. Can you imagine Josef/Peachfuzz during the most wonderful time of the year? Because I can and I need this episode in my eyeballs posthaste. The episode description lets us know that our favorite sociopath is pretending to be a therapist, and I am screaming. If you are also looking for some merry mayhem, I know this will be one of the highlights of Shudder’s December programming. I’m excited to see what Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass do to us with a holiday special. It’s literally all I want for Christmas.
You can watch The Creep Tapes Christmas Episode on December 12th.
Queens of the Dead (2025)
Drag queens, club kids, and bitter acquaintances come together when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in Brooklyn. George A. Romero’s legacy is undead and well in New York. I saw this movie twice, and I am obsessed with how Tina Romero expanded her dad’s world. While it nods at his seminal zombie franchise, it’s also distinctly its own glittery thing slinking down Bushwick. This movie is funny, glittery, queer, and heartwarming. It also has a ridiculously stacked cast that includes Katy O’Brian, Nina West, Dominique Jackson, and Margaret Cho. It also introduced me to Jaquel Spivey, who is an actor I need to see more of immediately. Come for the zombies, but stay for the drag queens.
You can watch Queens of the Dead on December 19th.
So, there you have it. Shudder is closing out the year with some pretty cool stuff, as usual. Make sure you unwrap all of your grisly gifts and let us know which movies you loved the most. In the meantime, we hope your holidays are a scream! Hopefully, next year, the nightmares will stay on screen where we prefer them.
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