A bold as brass, pitch black little comedy which, unusually, makes for a double-feature with "The Substance".
The first half is a sweet, dry, lovely awkward little character piece with tinges of body horror, shot like it was made in the 1970s or early 1980s (it's grainy, and has those zooms, closeups and edits like something made by Frank Henenlotter); there are well observed little details like the looks given to Edward by the passers by (a scene in the cafe is excellent for this) and the ever encroaching steady drip, drip, drip from the roof of his flat is simply excellent build up and metaphor for his growing problem...
Then comes the second half, where it becomes a different beast entirely. I can't say much, because this was genuinely such a pleasant surprise and a wonderfully awkward, anxiety inducing tale of envy, but suffice to say: the arrival of Adam Pearson as Oswald is an inspired character and a delightful performance, where the joke is that incredibly British thing of "this man is perfect and I hate him". The film has excellent performances from its main trio, in fact, and has a lot to say about not only how we as society tackle facial disfigurements, but also how we place on pedastals those with them and overcompensate, and our enduring awkwardness about it all. The "Metamorphosis" sub pastiche does not go unnoticed.
