Written and directed by Jennifer Reeder, Jonny Baptiste is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie. On the event of her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis: a family spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator. Starring: Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone, Ireon Roach, Casimere Jollette, Avery Holliday, Ilirida Memedovski, Sasha Kuznetsov, Josh Bywater, Melanie Liburd, Greta Stolte and Christopher Lowell.

First and foremost, if you happen to go into Perpetrator without watching the trailer and have a fear of blood (fun fact: the term for that is hemophobia), turn it off because there’s a river of it coming your way. Jennifer Reeder has soaked every nook and cranny of this story with oozing, enveloping and seemingly endless streams of blood. At first glance, it serves the classic purpose of making the audience uncomfortable and it works ridiculously well, perhaps even too well at times. On the other hand, you could unwrap the different themes it represents which are mostly encased by womanhood, from periods to assault to youth and thirst for life.

The style feels well matched to the teenager vibe, akin to merging Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale with a bigger darkness and removing their safety net, to let the horror really come through. Although while Jennifer Reeder’s style captures that feel, it’s also very different and makes a lot of artistic choices which will likely be appreciated by some more than others. The same could be said of the story and how it progresses, it has an experimental edge to how it unfolds. It doesn’t give easy answers or ever truly explain itself, asking you to piece things together, without giving you the entire puzzle. It’s a shame as it feels as though if it expanded on the origin of this special power and its legacy within their community, the story would flow more smoothly.

Kiah McKirnan as Jonny does a fantastic job of filling Perpetrator with personality, she’s a strong, forthright and unforgiving character who has a superbly unpredictable edge. You can also feel the insecurity and confusion which feeds that strength, a classic wall of protection. Pairing her with Ireon Roach was a wonderful choice, the two work together really well and their flirtation is genuinely sweet. Alicia Silverstone is brilliant as Hildie, everything about her is slightly off, there’s nothing normal to be found and it’s extremely enjoyable, it’s a shame she doesn’t get a bigger chunk of screen time. The accent she adopts feels like the American version of Queen’s English and it’s a lot of fun.

There are quite a few surreal choices that Reeder makes which almost give the film a fantasy edge and one of them is the character of Principal Burke played by Christopher Lowell. It’s surprising that more films haven’t capitalised on his ability to embrace the darkness. He does extremely well at adding a twisted edge and untrustworthiness, with plenty of creepiness.

Perpetrator likes to push your buttons, to make you uncomfortable and tense, filling itself with gross and gory details. It has a terrific ensemble, Kiah McKirnan gives an excellent lead performance and seeing Alicia Silverstone in unusual roles is always a joy. It takes risks visually and plays around with the lines of reality but it feels like its story was missing a few steps. It has a lot going for it and there’s plenty there but it’s not quite enough to create a satisfying experience, when the credits roll it feels like we haven’t got the full story.

Verdict: ✯✯✯ | 6/10

Arriving on Shudder September 1