Medusa Deluxe review – hairdressing-contest whodunnit shapes up stylishly

After a coiffeur gets scalped at an event, a model turns detective in this flamboyant first feature from Thomas Hardiman

Agatha Christie meets Pedro Almodóvar in this flamboyant British murder mystery set in the unglamorous world of regional hairdressing competitions. The victim is a hairdresser who’s been scalped backstage at an event seven hours into coiffing his piece de resistance. He’s found dead by the model returning from a fag break. “One minute he’s shaping my ’fro, the next he’s dead,” she marvels.

Medusa Deluxe is packed with funny, outrageous lines, and there are excellent performances especially from the female cast of hairdressers behaving badly. Without a doubt, it is an impressive debut from director Thomas Hardiman, even if his script doesn’t quite pull off a first-class whodunnit.

The film unfolds backstage as models and hairdressers wait to be interviewed by detectives following the murder. Any one of them could be the killer. There’s hairdresser Cleve (Clare Perkins), a perfectionist with a violent streak; she admits to having once bashed a rival over the head with a glass conditioner bottle. (“I’m a proud confident female.”) Another hairdresser, Kendra (Harriet Webb), is suspected of fixing the prize with competition boss Rene; he’s a northerner with a salt-and-pepper Elvis quiff. Rene may have been in love with the victim, whose husband soon arrives with their baby (the only character here not under suspicion).

Speculation and gossip spread like head-lice, transmitted by cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s camera as it snakes in and out of dressing rooms, along strip-lit corridors, through fire doors and down concrete stairwells. The steadicam shots have been tricksily edited by Fouad Gaber to make the film look like one continuous take.

We never get sight of an actual copper; instead, model Inez (Kae Alexander) turns Columbo with her sly line of questioning. As a detective story, the film loses steam about halfway through, and the revelation at the end is less than stunning. Still, the women who form the heart and soul of the film are terrific. You could imagine this being turned into a TV series, perhaps with Sharon Horgan; she’d have a hoot with sweary hairdressers macing each other with TRESemmé.

• Medusa Deluxe is released on 9 June in UK and Irish cinemas, and on 4 August on Mubi.

Contributor

Cath Clarke

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Medusa Deluxe review – limp competitive hairdressing whodunnit
A great premise for a murder mystery is let down by a suspense-free screenplay and a single-take shoot that cries out for some cuts

Wendy Ide

11, Jun, 2023 @10:00 AM

Article image
The Stylist review – an insipid thriller three decades out of fashion
With its vast plot holes, wooden acting and wanton violence, this serial killer tale has the feel of a straight-to-video flop

Peter Bradshaw

24, Feb, 2021 @3:00 PM

Article image
Black Medusa review – deadpan North African vengeance noir
This chilly Tunisian debut follows young a female killer who traps her victims by pretending to need a voice app to speak

Peter Bradshaw

25, Jan, 2022 @10:00 AM

Article image
To Be Someone review – a Guy Ritchie ripoff two decades past its sell-by date
The Quadrophenia cast reunite for this claret-soaked mess of dodgy geezers shady drug deals and noisy guitar riffs

Steve Rose

06, Jul, 2021 @11:00 AM

Article image
House of Gucci review – Lady Gaga murders in style in true-crime fashion house drama
Ridley Scott’s pantomimey soap entertainingly tracks fractures in the fashion world as Patrizia Reggiano plots to kill her ex, Maurizio Gucci

Peter Bradshaw

22, Nov, 2021 @11:00 PM

Article image
Cutting edge: the 80s hair salon that styled the future of fashion
A new documentary charts the rise and fall of a Soho shop that became a microcosm of British sexuality, creativity and multiculturalism

Nirpal Dhaliwal

09, Oct, 2018 @12:45 PM

Article image
What does Hair Love’s Oscar success say about diversity in Hollywood?
The seven-minute animated short about a girl and her afro hair has won fans and critical acclaim – but the battle is far from won

Tola Onanuga

25, Feb, 2020 @2:32 PM

For hairdressing beyond call of duty…
Barbara Ellen: David Cameron gave an MBE to his hairdresser, Lino Carbosiero. Mine would get a VC

Barbara Ellen

12, Jan, 2014 @12:05 AM

Article image
Vidal Sassoon on the artform that is hairdressing, 1985
The scissors legend talked to Sally Brampton while Hamiltons gallery displayed a retrospective exhibition of his work. By Chris Hall

Chris Hall

24, Jul, 2022 @5:00 AM

Article image
‘The bikini line is still a no-no’: why does dance have a problem with body hair?
Chests must be de-fuzzed, armpits shaved, legs waxed. But as dance becomes more diverse, should it stop policing what grows naturally? Top performers speak out about their body hair

Lyndsey Winship

03, Nov, 2021 @6:00 AM