MEDUSA DELUXE

2022 / 101 min/ color

An original combination of offbeat comedy and gripping thriller, Medusa Deluxe takes place at a regional hairdressing competition, a place where extravagance and unconventional thinking reign and the sheer quantity of wildly imaginative hairstyles can make your head spin. In the midst of this colorful but insular world, one of the participants is found dead, the victim of a gruesome crime. Horrified reactions quickly give way to mutual accusations; conspiracy theories and gossip spread like wildfire among the attending hairdressers, models, judges, and spectators. From this point forward only two things matter: finding out who the killer is and deciding which of the participants has created the most spectacular hairstyle — and it’s hard to say which one is more important. A former hairdresser himself, first-time feature director Thomas Hardiman knows the world he’s portraying inside out. Tension, rivalry, glamour, theatricality – it’s all there. Camerawork by the exceptional British cinematographer Robbie Ryan serves as our window into this outlandish world.

• BIFA – Best Makeup and Hair Design