'Sissy' Review: Nothing Timid About This Topical Aussie Indie [SXSW 2022]
Filmmakers Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes evoke the masters of Horror in a Hitchcockian thriller about bullying and influencer culture.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of attending a festival like SXSW, is you often find diamonds in the rough; opportunities given to talented filmmakers waiting to be discovered. Especially of note, a lot of these films debuting at the festival are quirky independent comedic, science fiction or horror films, as these filmmakers, itching to tell their stories, layer them in genre related subtext. This kind of filmmaking, in the humble opinion of this particular film fan, is the brightest, most sparkling of diamond cut available. Sissy, is just such a gem.
Sissy follows the story of mental health advocate and influencer Cecilia (Aisha Dee) who, while struggling with real human connection, has found her ‘family’ in her 200,000 followers. Every night she updates her social media profile, pushes her sponsorship opportunities, and then lets the online love flow through her. When she unexpectedly reunites with her childhood best friend Emma (co-writer and co-director Hannah Barlow), Cecilia is invited on Emma's bachelorette weekend where she gets stuck in a remote cabin with her high school bully (Emily De Margheriti) who never expected Cecilia to be there. The weekend spirals into pure mischance and mayhem as Emily brings up a dark past between she and ‘Sissy’ and Cecilia’s social anxiety devolves into madness.
It is without any sense of irony when Hitchcock was mentioned in the heading of this review, as co-writers and co-directors Barlow and Senes have created a modern day Psycho. If you were to take Norman Bates, with all his damage and insecurities, and set him up with an Instagram account that somehow reached virality to the point where he no longer needed the love of ‘Mother’, you would have Sissy. Dee plays Cecilia with such connective sorrow and tenderness, that it is insanely easy (if you’ll forgive the choice of words) to sympathize with her, even when the darkness of her persona is revealed. If you consider how many of the classic horror films based iconic characters such as Norman Bates or Leatherface of the true crimes of Ed Gein, there’s something interesting to note; many of the filmmakers made their movie monsters the protagonists. Yet how many audience members would admit they can relate to Leatherface, or the horrific crimes in Silence of the Lambs? Dee was able to tap into something so many of us have experienced; an impossible transition from child to adult coupled with incessant bullying. Sissy and Dee, in so many ways makes Cecilia not only the protagonist, but the actual hero (only in some situations, not all), yet even if you were to consider her the ‘villain’ of the piece, it is easy to see a lot of her actions as justified. A horrific thought, but a brilliant, modern and topical spin on what could have otherwise been an archetypal slasher.
The filmmakers, taking advantage of Dee’s breakout performance crafted an extremely memorable story which considering the ‘scary but true’ real life subject matter, manages to create the darkest of dark comedies. Much like its predecessor in Psycho, its easy for audiences to laugh at some of the absurdity of the situation, and yet be horrified as well. The writers deftly interweave moments of horror not only in the blood and gore, but the social commentary and how much we recognize as terrifying ideals within our society.
The one major weakness of Sissy, for which you cannot fault the filmmakers, is it does seem distractingly low budget, if only, at times. There was one victim in particular that could have benefitted from better decision making from Barlow and Senes knowing the limitations they had with this independent film. There’s nothing wrong with being zealous and wanting the on screen deaths to be big, but if the resources are unavailable, then creative renegade filmmaking should be implicated. Granted, without knowing exactly what was available, the only thing that can be said with certainty is this particular killer sequence was the only time where a death was distracting, and perhaps not the heightened horror they wanted it to be. Otherwise, the tension coupled with Dee’s performance was engaging, captivating, and fun.
Before its premiere at SXSW, Shudder had announced they have obtained the rights of the film. This is an opportunity for true horror fans, regardless if you are a classicist or a new-age horror lover to witness talented filmmakers and a very solid cast make a name for themselves. Sissy is a workshop on atmosphere and character, and could easily be the calling card of Barlow, Senes and Dee. Who knows? Perhaps in 60 years time, the newest generation will compare how their dark-comedic thriller stands up against the likes of Bates, Leatherface and Sissy.