Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SISSY [SxSW Film 2022 - Virtual]
The texture of friendship and psychopathic obsession has been a stalwart of many films over the years. The tendency is bathed in a fog of childhood bullying, self esteem and a considerable intention of loathing. "Sissy" [Midnighters] works within that construct following Cecilia, a supposedly successful influencer who helps people with their problems by being "sincere". Of course, there is a darker context in her reasoning marked by trauma. The movie is written and directed by one of the supporting leads Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes so that mixture in references creates an interesting tone that is both "Heathers" in its sardonic nature while also mixing element of "Single White Female" and even motifs of the recent Sundance film "Fresh". Aisha Dee perfectly inhabits Cecilia which is not the easiest part to play and yet embraces it fully. The background of the film is that Cecilia runs into a childhood friend Emma. When they were kids, they always said they would grow old together. Now Emma is getting married to another girl and coincidences prove to be moths to a flame.
The context that the film pushes is memory and what people's representations of their lives are versus what they want people to believe. Most of the action happens when they all go away for a hens weekend pre-marriage ceremony. As one would expect, things in a way come undone both consequential but also based and because of pent-up anger and resentment. Dee moves back and forth in what Cecilia thinks she is and is able to adeptly channel those possibilities without going too overboard and pandering to the camera. She keeps it as grounded as she can as everything crumbles around her both because of the character's own lack of impulse control and the necessity of the story. While some shots push the idea to the extreme in the semblance of a "Midnighter" film, there is a parallel theme of nature and chaos which beautifully underlines all the actions that take place. "Sissy" is a dark parable for sure but one that knows its lead character through and through. B
By Tim Wassberg
