A pitch-black comedy drama with some literal eyepopping gore, Australian thriller Sissy manages to take swipes at social media whilst delivering a character-led examination of childhood trauma. Aisha Dee is excellent as Cecilia, a social influencer who has a protective circle of rope, and who constantly proclaims herself to be good enough. She dwells in the past, lingering over childhood memories with her best friend Emma (played by co-writer and director Hannah Barlow); something happened way back, however, and they lost touch.
After running into each other by accident, Cecilia is subsequently invited by Emma to a bachelorette party with a small group of friends at a remote house in the countryside – where matters turn rather bloody. Turns out Cecilia – or Sissy, as she was called by childhood bullies – has some trauma to process, and is confronted at the party by an old tormentor: Alix (Emily De Margheriti), who bears scars of her own.
Cecilia gradually unravels as the group discover her past transgressions – she had lashed out as a youngster and is still processing the trauma that led her there – leading to some full-on and rather shocking moments. Dee does a great job of investing Cecilia/Sissy with both sympathy and terror, her mindset painting a lot of the proceedings; there’s an overblown score, creative writing as her grip on reality alters, and the film teeters on a slasher/revenge horror knife edge.
Writer/directors Barlow and Kane Senes keep matters tense and often grossout, not pulling punches with the violence and various killings. The toxicity of friendships, the double-sided nature of social media and the role of influencers are examined with intelligence in Sissy: a satisfying horror unafraid of melodrama and surrealism, along with some hardcore slayings.
Dir: Kane Senes & Hannah Barlow (18, 101 mins)
Streaming now on Shudder
words KEIRON SELF