Perfect Sense

Perfect Sense is a more philosophical version of Soderberg’s Contagion, but with more modest production. With the exception of the nicely done ending, however, it is just as cold and detached, which is not the best choice, given the film’s focus on the two central characters (and their relationship). (06/02/2012)

The topic was good; when I read the blurb about it I was looking forward to watching. Unfortunately, I found the treatment very disappointing; I didn’t like it. The first half of the movie came over all comical and confused. The other half began to take off and was significantly better, but no good enough to make up for the beginning. I’m quite surprised at the high rating (76%); I found this movie absolutely mediocre. (21/04/2015)

Remember One by Metallica? What if all people ended up like that? A great idea to depict a relationship beginning in a world slowly heading towards collapse where people entertain the false hope that things will get better. Both Ewan McGregor and Eva Green are great, even though they eat soap. The only thing that bothered me is that the movie wasn’t devoted only to those two (documentary shots from around the world), or that they didn’t show several stories taking place in various places around the planet. (16/01/2012)

The story portrayed in this film is not set in any particular time or place, the “hypertext” interspersing of the fictional event with authentic news footage illustrates the global impact of the epidemic and gives us the feeling that what we see is happening right now and in this world. The small scale of the narrative with a few people and one place is not adhered to as conscientiously as in another chamber film about the end of the world, namely von Trier’s Melancholia (in contrast to the procedural Contagion, both films provide space for the characters’ reactions to the anticipated end of existence rather than to the cause of the epidemic). It isn’t clear what the filmmakers want to point out to us. The pointlessness of treating symptoms instead of looking for deeper causes? The distancing of humanity from the roots of a "pure", pre-technological society? The cynicism and selfishness of humanity, which at a critical juncture gives preference to physical pleasure over atonement? In any case, there is no doubt that the subtext of the vaguely articulated challenge is hopeful: don’t deal with bullshit and re-establish broken contacts (with people, or with the world). The optimistic message will be a reason to sneer especially for viewers enthused by von Trier’s film, which conceals one layer of depression under another. The biggest cynics can choose the opposite reading and see Perfect Sense as an unintentional parody of post-apocalyptic films (the gluttony phase of the contagion looks like an outtake from a zombie-horror B-movie). Too much latitude for interpretation, the predictability of the plot and the fear of really going all out (like Fernando Meirelles in the much rawer Blindness) prevent us from enjoying Perfect Sense as a disaster thriller. The film works much better – almost flawlessly in the final scene – as a standard melodrama about a couple in love facing a force more power than them, but not more powerful than their love. The film makes perfect sense only as a drama that we willingly let ourselves be touched by. 70% (04/02/2012)

The name David Mackenzie first caught my attention with the modern western Hell or High Water, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Perfect Sense, however, is a completely different kind of film. The closest comparison might be Soderbergh’s Contagion, but Perfect Sense is still quite distinct. It’s not a film with a particularly high budget, but on the other hand, it has a concept that hasn’t been explored before. A film about the gradual loss of human senses, one after the other? That’s something we really haven’t seen before, and it’s a good thing someone came up with it. I liked everything about the film, though I would have toned down the romantic subplot between Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, which felt a bit overdone and somewhat detracted from the overall effect. It’s not that it didn’t fit, but the creators seemed to give it more attention than the actual loss of human senses. I enjoyed how, during the loss of hearing, as a viewer, you really couldn’t hear anything—it struck me as a brilliant idea. The narrator's words stuck in my mind minute by minute. The ending was grand. It's a magnificent film made on a small budget, and it’s one that will make you think for days after watching it. I give it 83%. (11/06/2017)