I don’t profess myself to be the biggest horror expert or scholar, since there are certainly others who fulfill that niche better than I. However, I do enjoy a slasher, a thriller, something that gets the blood running and bumps goosing, etc. I am also an avid member of the Aisha Dee fan army, so with all things considered I had to tune into “Sissy”, a recent 2022 film from directors Hannah Barlow and Kate Senes.
The premise of the movie is an Ingrid Goes West moment, and plays on very contemporary ideas of fame, fulfillment and millennial milestone achievement. Dee’s protagonist Cecilia is a mindfulness guru influencer who lives a life of smoke and mirrors for her 200,000 followers but wallows in isolation and depression behind the scenes. After encountering her childhood best friend Emma in a pharmacy aisle and being spontaneously invited to her hen’s weekend festivities, both women have to confront past trauma both instigated and dealt to Cecilia’s bully in middle school, Alex (also present as the host and maid of honor at said hen’s weekend festivities).
As the plot progressed and the “slashing” part of a slasher ensued, I found myself more and more impressed with the freshness of this film. Following the widespread success of releases like “Bodies Bodies Bodies”, it seems that the niche of “young hot people having fun and killing each other” is alive and well in bigger and brighter ways than past iterations. With a relevant comedic tone, decadent cinematic landscapes and contemporary lenses of exploring the relationships between characters — especially between women — that span a wide range of lived experiences, “Sissy” breaches an intersection between horror and comedy that works like a charm. It also provided a signature genre-appropriate amount of death and gore.
I also want to take a second to illuminate the creativity of the kills in this movie. Some are intentional, some are by proxy, and some are framed, but there’s Final Destination type moves occurring here. Without spoiling who this happens to, a character is finished off by a bathtub drain sucking their hair (and thus attached scalp) down the drain. The gore is never necessarily gratuitous, but just honest enough and squirmy enough to bring audiences back into the story in inventive ways.
I wouldn’t go as far to say that this movie is an instant classic or life changer, but it provides a healthy dose of girl’s night out fun with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. In my mind, all of Australia is like this!