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Plot: A girl on the cusp of her 18th birthday is left in the care of her mysterious aunt by her distant father. A new home, a new town, and a new school also bring new revelations about herself. Revelations that help her unravel a series of disappearances.
Perpetrator is a film that is ambitious in its attempt to take on several elements. Everything from coming of age story, to surrealism, to themes surrounding society's views of women, exploitation of youth, etc., and, yes, even a new breed of monster are all wrapped up into a psuedo-ambiguous piece of psycho-sexual melodrama. Unfortunately, despite all the chutzpah, all these things blend into a horribly uneven, woefully try-hard, and undeservedly pretentious slop.
There is promise in certain factors in play, no doubt (most notable among these is the use of a subversive "empathy monster" as a hero), but all is for naught when it is dragged down by eye-rollingly bad dialogue, transparently obvious plot points, uneven tone, and a smug aura to al the goings on.
Dare I say that even good actors would have trouble injecting life, humor, or credibility into some of these exchanges in this script, much less the assortment of talent here. Awkward, stiff, and gobsmackingly dumb lines populate this film. The sad part is that even silliness can have heft if its given time to breath but the characters move from one ludicrous line to the next without the slightest implication that anything means anything. Everyone seems wooden or unnatural when they speak. The only big name in this movie is Alicia Silverstone and, while not a thespian of any substantial note, her scenes truly underline how utterly unwieldy the lines are. Downright laughable stuff.
After an somewhat mysterious (if meandering) setup, the movie devolves into a painfully obvious "mystery" that just slowly kills any momentum with its mind-bogglingly dumb assortment of transparent villains. Shreds of inspiration from other movies can be seen throughout but are never clever or, really, warranted. They are, however, at their most egregious with the titular Perpetrator (a fellow that, like the other cadre of bad guys, can be seen coming a mile away). This guy is a cringe-factory of epic proportions.
Perpetrator is what happens when someone thinks they are far more clever and talented than they actually are. Where exceptional films like Excision (2012) cruise with ease in harnessing surrealism with heavy themes, dark humor, and a unique angle, Perpetrator sinks further and further into its bloated, messy nonsense.
