Shudder dropped the official trailer for Perpetrator, the horror film starring Kiah McKirnan, Christopher Lowell, Melanie Liburd, Ireon Roach and Alicia Silverstone. Kiah McKirnan stars as Jonny, a teenage girl living in a town where young women continue to go missing.

Release Date

Written and directed by Jennifer Reeder, Perpetrator world premiered at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, and will stream on Shudder and opens in select theaters with a release date of September 1, 2023.

Synopsis

Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). On her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis: a family spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator.

Reviews

Called Funny, freaky and full of feeling, BFI Sight and Sound review said, “Lit in Bava-esque colours, dripping with sexual frankness and surreal humour, and filled with characters whose bleeding or bandages are signifiers of a deeper collective trauma, Perpetrator assumes the mask of a slasher/superhero film to expose a patriarchal system that feeds on the exploitation of women. This is an allegory of female solidarity and empowerment, where both sexuality and gender prove fluid, where “the pain and the blood” that define women’s biological and sometimes social experience are embraced and weaponised, and where empathy itself becomes a transformative antidote to male oppression. Funny, freaky and full of feeling, Reeder’s genrefied feminist flick is a big deal.”

Giving the film a B- review, Collider wrote, “While Perpetrator is flawed, it will make you laugh out loud at the absurdity of its surreal situations. In addition, Reeder’s new movie also boasts a fabulous cast that helps to keep things afloat when the script becomes too shaky. It also uses well-designed gore scenes to make you flinch in your chair. And at its most fundamental level, horror is all about testing our nerves while having simple fun, two things Perpetrator definitely offers. Unfortunately, Perpetrator is too scattered and uneven to become the next horror hit. However, fans of the genre looking to take a trippy stroll through a bloody and campy landscape will be well served with Reeder’s anti-slasher.”

Official Trailer

Watch the official trailer for Perpetrator: