Perfect is a coming of age movie of the “you have to get lost before you can find yourself” variety. The lost in this case being Kai (Ashley Moore), a young woman who lands in a small town that’s not much more than a rest stop on the way to a real place. A quick stop at a gas station brings Kai into a world she doesn’t expect to get caught up in, only to fall deep under its spell.
Kai is basically a blank slate when we meet her. All we know is that she’s driving solo and running low on funds. It’s a good creative choice to introduce her this way, indicating that she knows as much about herself as the audience. She’s instantly relatable to anyone who has ever felt lost, aimless, and determined to change things for themselves, if they can just figure out how to do that. One of the great struggles of life and self-discovery is having to accept how much randomness plays a role in our lives. For Kai, she’ll have to get lost in the randomness before she can get her bearings and move forward.
Enter Mallory (Julia Fox), an artist who is noticeably older than the groups of twentysomethings Kai takes up with. Mallory struts onto the screen pregnant and buying alcohol when we meet her, setting a particular set of expectations for the character, only for her to turn around and extend kindness toward Kai in a way that draws Kai in. For much of Perfect’s runtime, Mallory is a mysterious figure. She’s beguiling and Kai quickly falls under her spell. For someone who arrives with not much more than the clothes on her back and a few dollars in her pocket, Kai is welcomed into the small community of this middle-of-nowhere spot on the map and potentially discovers the very things she’s been looking for.
The script, by Millicent Hailes (who also directed the film) and Kendra Miller, is at its strongest when building up the group Kai lands in. The group dynamics and underlying relationships are ever evolving and the script does well to draw out the changes that happen in the wake of Kai’s arrival. Everything in life is fluid, even if the changes are imperceptible in the moment. But, as sure as the sun rises and sets, those changes build until finally making themselves obvious and forcing Kai to face them.
Where the film wobbles is with Fox’s Mallory, who remains a bit too enigmatic to get a handle on. Fox captures the allure of the character, but the mysterious parts remains vague to the point where Mallory comes across as a thinner character than what the film needs. Mallory is the second most prominent character, but she feels underdeveloped compared to most of the characters with less screen time. This is most apparent in the relationship between Kai and Mallory. The film takes their relationship to places that aren’t convincing and prove distracting.
Ultimately, Perfect is a movie that, like life and like Kai’s journey, hits a number of bumps along the way to its destination. The film is intriguing, but too often feels like it’s in a rut. By the time it wraps up, it doesn’t quite feel like the journey has been worth where it arrives.
