66
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperThis is a bold and unique slice of storytelling that serves up some genuine scares and bone-chilling fright moments while pointing a finger at a culture that alternately glorifies, worships and sexualizes young women and revels in stereotyping them and tearing them down.
- The plot is mostly irrelevant, aside from how it allows for Reeder’s ideas and imagery to flow. Oozing, gooey blood and messed-up school uniforms, secrets whispered in high school bathrooms, glitter dresses, and uncanny face masks all meld together to create a film rich in atmosphere and artifice.
- 80The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisScrewy and strange, Perpetrator is gleefully unsubtle, but its ensanguinated excess is part of the fun.
- 75The Film StageDavid KatzThe Film StageDavid KatzReeder boldly conceives of the patriarchy as an extractive force, not just harming female solidarity and individuality, but using it as a resource to grotesquely mine from.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsIn the best possible way, Reeder has returned throughout her career to stories and characters rooted in trauma, while expanding the fantasy/reality boundaries of her narratives. This is her best realized work so far.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerPerpetrator may be silly and over-the-top, but inside of it lies a beating heart — quite literally, you will see — that yearns to express itself.
- 70Screen DailyJonathan RomneyScreen DailyJonathan RomneyIt’s McKirnan’s unflappable performance and energetic humour that hold it all together.
- 40VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangOperating at a strange remove from modern reality, it seems to belong more to the teen experience of a couple of decades ago, the very era from which so many of its reference points hail.
- 25Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeSlant MagazineSteven ScaifePerpetrator cycles through characters and settings at a considerable clip, never stopping long enough to flesh them out beyond an outline.