Sissy, debuting on Shudder today, offers a fun, unique dark comedy horror film about the phoniness of social media persona and the dangers of not addressing actual trauma. Lead by a standout lead performance and wild second half, Sissy adds another must watch to the Shudder catalog.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Sissy
Directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes
Written by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes
Starring Aisha Dee, Hannah Barlow and Emily De Margheriti
Sissy Review
We are in a golden age of horror acting. Just this month we’ve been treated to an award worthy performance by Mia Goth in Pearl, and a star making turn by Sosie Bacon in Smile. You can add Aisha Dee in Sissy to the list. Dee is spectacular as social media influencer Cecilia, who finds herself confronted by a past trauma. It’s a wickedly fun performance that sees Cecilia fluctuate between the confident role she plays online to the traumatized unsure person she is in reality…to…well…something else entirely.
Cecilia is a self-help social media influencer who has amassed a large following online spreading tips on mental health. After a chance encounter with her childhood best friend Emma (Hannah Barlow), Cecilia finds herself on a bachelorette weekend at a remote cabin. What Cecilia doesn’t know, is that the cabin is owned by her childhood bully, Alex (Emily De Margheriti). Can Cecilia, or Sissy as Alex calls her, survive a weekend in her personal hell by practicing the techniques she preaches online?
There’s a moment early in Sissy that encapsulates the commentary on social media and influencers it’s going to tell. Cecilia is watching TV and flips by, uninterested, major real-world events until she lands on a reality tv show. It’s a brilliant moment. We know that reality tv is fake, you can’t trust anything you see on it as representing an actual look at reality. Cecilia eschews actual unfolding reality for the comfort of the faux reality show with people who in real life are probably nothing like their characters on TV.
Cecilia, too, is nothing like the character she plays online. Two hundred thousand people see her as a happy, charismatic person who has a solid grasp on her mental health. In real life we see Cecilia as a somewhat reserved person who immediately is overcome with nerves when learning she will be spending the weekend with her old bully.
The first half of Sissy dives headfirst into examining all of this while introducing us to its cast of characters. The second half of Sissy takes what has been built and lets loose with a wild, fun ride to the finish. Fun is probably the best way to describe the movie. It never is, nor aims, to be scary. It aims, and succeeds, at being a blast to watch. A bloody, violent, blast to watch.
The shared history of the three main girls creates a unique dynamic when the story turns at the midway point. We see snippets of that history in flashback throughout the movie. Those flashbacks, and slightly uneven first half, are the biggest misses in Sissy. We only flashback to one specific event and we do it over and over with slightly more revealed each time. The problem is the flashback isn’t exactly a mystery being slowly unraveled…we know what’s happening the whole time. It’s not really commenting on the story in the way that it seems to think it is.
For their parts, De Margheriti and Barlow do a good job creating those interesting dynamics with Dee’s lead. The rest of the supporting cast do well with their more complimentary parts. But this is the Aisha Dee show. Like Mia Goth and Sosie Bacon in their recent roles, Aisha Dee is asked to be the focus of nearly every scene in the movie. Like Pearl and Smile, Sissy is all the better for it.
There’s a lot more to say about Sissy...but to do so would spoil the fun. Streaming now on Shudder, Sissy is 102 minutes you won’t regret.
Scare Value
Sissy nails what it’s going for at every turn. At times a commentary on how much influence influencers should have and at times drenched in bloodshed. Aisha Dee’s lead performance is a treat to watch. The turn at the midway point of the movie sets up a second half that never lets up on the fun, or the carnage.
4/5
