In Fabric - 2018 - 7/10
Older woman, Sheila, looks to buy something new for a blind date, so she visits an odd fashion house.
(How odd? The employee - “A purchase on a horizon, a panoply of temptation. Can a curious soul desist?”)
Store staff remind one of Victorian governesses.
Meanwhile, Sheila’s home is slipping from her rules, while her employers start to “coach” her.
How about the new red dress? The one that leaves a rash on her?
(“In apprehensions lie the crevices of clarity.”)
Strange television commercials, a bizarre retail underbelly, Plasticine encounters.
Later, perhaps coincidentally, another dress wearer, runs afoul of the employer.
(“Darings eclipse the dark circumference of caution.”)
Unexpected, off-kilter humor proves funny and unsettling, in a world that is downright weird.
This is the third film I have seen by writer/director Peter Strickland.
The first, Berberian Sound Stage, I did not care for.
The second, The Duke Of Burgundy, I appreciated more than I liked.
This one, I did like, but it is overlong and suffers from an excess of ideas that he cannot array properly.
Should be of particular interest to, as it seems to borrow from, the cult of Ligotti.
