SXSW 2026 | Movie Review: "Perfect" Leaves Both Its Characters And Audience Parched
4/12 ForReel Score | 1.5/5 Stars
Millicent Hailes’ sapphic melodrama Perfect is as confused and adrift as the characters who inhabit the small town of Breakwater. We meet Kai (Ashley Moore) as she arrives during a delirious post-break-up road trip to start life anew. To make matters worse, the world is in the midst of a drought intense enough to contaminate most of the drinking water. Kai quickly finds herself drawn to pregnant artist Mallory (Julia Fox) after she buys Kai some water for the road. The two hit it off and they hang out by the lake with sexual tension clearly in the air. Kai also befriends local shopkeep Sunny (Lio Mehiel) and their small group of friends. After that clique has a bonfire, Kai finds her car trashed and broken down and has to find a place to stay in Breakwater. Mallory quickly volunteers and sparks fly.
It is immediately apparent how paper thin Kai and Mallory’s connection is. Hailes wants us to delight in how they cure each other’s loneliness, but the “why” isn’t really clear. They give each other attention and sex. One is shy and the other is outgoing. That is about all we’ve got until their relationship takes a turn for the toxic in the late second act of this ninety four minute film. Sure, depressed people do often fall for one another on vibes alone, but the screenplay co-written by Hailes and Kendra Miller doesn’t even provide superficial flirting hot enough to spark chemistry. Julia Fox is always charismatic, but her persona makes it so clear to us that Mallory is being insincere in some way. It reflects badly on Kai, who by and large just floats through this situationship until she happens upon more information. Ashley Moore is fine, the role is so poorly written that it’s hard to judge how she’d fare with better material.
There’s a bit more life when we hang out with Sunny. Mehiel is easily the most naturalistic and likable actor in the film. They just never have much to do, spending most of the film behind the cash register quipping about Kai and Mallory’s trist. During the fleeting scenes where we do get time with Sunny’s found family, there are glimpses into what could’ve been a compelling portrait of young queer folks living on the outskirts of society, but they’re over quickly.
The drought also never figures into the story in a meaningful way. We understand that everyone is a bit loopy, but Breakwater also seems to be a haven for clean water, so people are able to swim in the lake and shower with little issue. Considering that it is virtually the only plot element that hasn’t been done to death in dozens of other indie queer romance films, one might think that it would factor into a major set piece or twist at some point. Not really. There are minor implications that the lake outside of Mallory’s cabin may have a mind of its own, but they don’t pay off. It’s such a poorly realized world even for a microbudget film.
The film’s title refers to Mallory at one point admitting that she wants a baby that is Perfect. Baffling that a film so half baked would even gesture at that word being an overarching theme. There was likely a time where the sheer lack of queer representation would’ve propelled Perfect to cult status simply for existing. Thankfully, those days are long gone, and we can discard this nonsense in search of stories about these communities that actually have something to say.