Film Review: SUPERIOR (2021): A Fascinating David Lynch-style Thriller Set in the 1980’s

Superior Review

Superior (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Erin Vassilopoulos and starring Alessandra Mesa, Ani Mesa, Pico Alexander, Jake Hoffman, Stanley Simons, Liz Cameron, Sonia Conlin, L. Marie Denwood, Ashley Kalo, Charlie Kevin, Christine Lauer, Delian Lincourt, Alexa Mareka, Lianna Morra, Miki Reaume and Cara Ronzetti.

Director Erin Vassilopoulos’ new film Superior has been compared to David Lynch’s films (and justifiably so) but it has a style all its own that hooks the viewer right from the opening scene. As the movie begins, Marian (Alessandra Mesa), a blonde, is running on a dark road seeking to escape a vicious guy named Robert (Pico Alexander). Right from the start, the movie looks like it could be from the 1980’s thanks to the movie’s old-fashioned grainy cinematography. In fact, I thought that I was watching the wrong film at first because the picture truly looked like it was from a few decades back. Ultimately, the presence of a calendar in the film sets the year as 1987 and I figured out I was watching the right movie which is appropriately set around Halloween.

Marian has a twin sister with darker hair named Vivian (the superb Ani Mesa) who is married to an average guy named Michael (Jake Hoffman) who tries to arrange sex on a set schedule with Vivian. When Marian shows up at her sister’s home looking for somewhere to stay, the film’s plot kicks into motion. In a movie that helps the audience recall the female roles in movies like Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet or the characters in the old show, “Twin Peaks,” this suburban set picture is real interesting to watch as the two sisters begin to re-establish their relationship and even learn what it’s like to experience each other’s lives.

When both sisters end up with darker hair, things get really intriguing especially since Marian has taken a job at a local ice cream parlor to help contribute to the new household she is living in. One day when Marian decides she want to try to work on her music (she’s an aspiring rock star), Vivian takes her place and goes to work for her. Vivian finds she doesn’t mind going to work and starts feeling a newfound attachment to her sister Marian. Vivian starts to enjoy her life away from her mundane marriage.

Meanwhile, the police are looking for Marian’s whereabouts since she has disappeared. A cop shows up at Vivian’s house but Marian (posing as Vivian) tells the officer that she hasn’t seen her sister in years. Marian is also having visions of the crazed Robert showing up at her job or coming to find her and trying to hurt her.

Stanley Simons, in a hilarious role, almost steals the scenes he’s in as Miles, the manager of the ice cream shop where Marian works. Simons, whose character plays video games in the back while Marian serves ice cream, is perfect as the quintessential slacker. When Marian asks Vivian to take her place one day, she hysterically tells her that it’s an easy job and you just “give people what they ask for.” Surprisingly, Vivian gets along with Miles better than Marian does.

As Vivian’s husband, Michael, Hoffman is well-cast as a husband who doesn’t really care about getting home in time to be with his wife for dinner and a sex scene in the film between them seems fully devoid of true passion. We understand why Vivian wants to escape her dull routines the same way Marian wants to escape the clutches of Robert. As a result, the sisters find comfort in each other’s company.

There is some real tension towards the end of the picture where Vivian ends up encountering Robert. I won’t tell you the specifics of how they come to run into one another but the last scenes of the film are certain to keep audiences edgy and watching with genuine interest in the material the film presents to the audience.

Superior is a fascinating character study of two sisters who learn to walk in each other’s shoes so to say and, as a result, develop a bond that turns out to be stronger than they originally knew. I can spot the homages to David Lynch which are most likely intentional but, on her own merits, Erin Vassilopoulos is truly a filmmaker to watch.

The performances by real-life twins Alessandra and Ani Mesa are both top notch although Ani comes up with a stronger, more relatable character which is probably also intentional. As Vivian, Ani Mesa’s characterization shows us all the fun things in life that her character has seemingly lost in her marriage even though she’s financially stable thanks to her being with Michael. In juxtaposition, Alessandra Mesa’s Marian is mostly broke and has less to lose than Vivian does when their newfound bond is threatened by the presence of Robert.

While Superior is mostly a thriller, it also displays the relationship between two estranged sisters who learn to find an unusual comfort in each other’s company while the movie’s suspenseful plot unfolds. Superior is one of the better thrillers that I have seen which played at a Sundance Film Festival and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 8/10

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