Synopsis:
Obsession gets a makeover in The Stylist, a deliciously twisted slice of female-led psychological horror, nominated for the New Visions Award for Best Motion Picture at the 2020 Sitges International Film Festival and based on co-writer/director Jill Gevargizian’s award-winning short film of the same name. We all dream of being someone else… but for Claire (Najarra Townsend, Contracted), that dream goes from an obsession to a living nightmare. Hairstylist by day, serial killer and collector of scalps by night, Claire’s lonely existence is thrown into turmoil when her regular client, Olivia (Brea Grant, After Midnight; director of 12 Hour Shift), asks her to style her hair for her wedding day. Increasingly fixated on Olivia’s seemingly flawless life, Claire vows to lock up her scalp collection and change her ways for good – only to discover that repressing your deadly desires is easier said than done… Featuring striking visuals and pitch-perfect performances from its talented cast, The Stylist offers viewers “a delicately deranged glimpse into social anxiety and loneliness” (Slashfilm) – a bold and mesmerising debut feature from a filmmaker to watch.
My Edition:
My Thoughts:
I bought this movie several years ago, but if you’ve been here before you might know the secret to why everything takes me so damned long to review. I have PILES of unwatched movies and unread books. I occasionally suffer from bouts of anxiety and depression in a sort of furious go-fuck-yourself-tornado that leave me unable to consume anything but comfort books and movies. And sometimes that lasts a long time. So…I bought this like 2 years ago and just watched it like a week ago.
But.
It was good, and I wish I had watched it sooner. I had seen the short film (also called The Stylist), so I basically knew what I was in for, but Gevargizian didn’t disappoint. Najarra Townsend does an incredible job as hair stylist Claire. She’s so vulnerable, creepy, and also somehow relatable. I think a lot of that is down to a very nuanced performance by Townsend. Like, she’s awful, clearly – but you also definitely feel for her. She’s clearly in a tremendous amount of pain, and dealing with it in the only way her fractured psyche knows how.
And the last few minutes of the movie are wonderful. You are going to think to yourself, “if it does x I’m gonna be so mad.” But then it’s gonna do exactly that thing you think you don’t want and you’re going to lose your fucking mind. It’s so well executed. And whatever you do, don’t look at the Wikipedia page. For some reason, whoever wrote that decided that they should just play-by-play the ENTIRE movie, so it’s spoilers-galore.
As for the Arrow release itself, I will say this: Arrow never skimps on the special features. With this one you’re gonna get:
- Audio commentary by co-writer/producer/director Jill Gevargizian and actress/producer Najarra Townsend
- Introduction by Jill Gevargizian
- The Invisible Woman, a visual essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, exploring the themes of women’s labor and female killers in The Stylist and horror cinema.
- The Stylist – Behind the Scenes, a series of eight behind-the-scenes featurettes on different aspects of the film’s production, featuring interviews with the cast and crew.
- Location scouting featurette.
- Outtakes
- Original Kickstarter video
- The original 2016 The Stylist short film directed by Jill Gevargizian and starring Najarra Townsend, that inspired the main feature.
- Pity, a 2016 short film directed by The Stylist’s editor, John Pata, and executive produced by Jill Gevargizian, with an optional introduction by Pata.
- Teaser trailer
- Theatrical trailer
- Image galleries
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
I really loved The Invisible Woman. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas killed it (maybe pun intended? I don’t know – it’s early). She digs into why it is that women, and women’s labor has typically been, and continues to be mostly invisible in human society. This visual essay made the inclusion of Pity feel particularly egregious, so I’m going to gloss over all the other special features (which are perfectly fine) and jump directly to that.
Pity, the short film by The Stylist editor John Pata feels like an extremely unwelcome addition to a movie about the invisibility of women. I think overall I would have liked this release a lot more if that had been absent. I understand wanting to platform a friend, but…Pity felt very much out of place. Also, I hated it, but that’s probably more on the story it was based on than the short itself – the story apparently came from the liner notes of a Pig Destroyer album. Anyway, I hated it. I’m so tired of the spurned man brutally murders woman narrative. Get therapy, you pathetic muppets. And putting this on a disc with a movie about an “invisible” woman who just wants human connection left me feeling really angry, if I’m being honest.
Rating:
I think this is definitely a movie you should give a shot. It’s on the Arrow Player app currently, otherwise, the Arrow release is worth it in my opinion. The exclusive art is gorgeous, and you already heard how I feel about the visual essay. But, I still say skip Pity.
The Stylist
Directed by: Jill Gevargizian
Written by: Jill Gevargizian, Eric Havens, Eric Stolze
Sixx Tape
US Release Date: March 1, 2021
Unrated
105 Minutes
