In the opening moments of the sixth directorial feature from Alex Ross Perry (Queen Of Earth, Golden Exits), you are quickly settled into the sensorially assaultive journey that you will soon be on for the next two-hours-and-fifteen minutes. The girls of the rock band Something She are waiting to take the stage to perform a quick encore for their beckoning fans. The venues they are playing are no longer as large as they used to be, and they have recently received word that their European tour was canceled, but they seem hesitantly at-home when they are on stage. The rollicking punk rock lifestyle in front of an audience is nothing compared to the chaos that reins once the music stops backstage. Lead singer Becky Something (Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man) is the drug-addled wildcard whose grip on reality seems tenuous at best. She definitely does not seem capable of taking care of her infant daughter, and the amount of trust she puts in a huckster shaman is frankly maddening. She is a volatile presence making everyone in her life miserable, and over the course of five distinct segments we get to explore whether or not there is a path back from her rock bottom.
Her Smell is a very off-putting title which mirrors the essence of Becky throughout most of the film. Her addiction and mania has frayed the relationship with her bandmates, Ali (Gayle Rankin, GLOW) and Marielle (Agyness Deyn, Sunset Song), who keep their vices at a more manageable level. Their manager Howard (Eric Stoltz, Some Kind of Wonderful) is on the verge of financial ruin if the band cannot become something more functional. Becky’s ex (Dan Stevens, The Rental) is trying to keep Becky in their daughter’s life even when she makes it nearly impossible. Becky is an emotional terrorist; she oscillates wildly between coked-out, incoherent banter and violent paranoia depending on the whims of the spirits and how raw she feels in the moment. Even when she is smiling you feel uneasy, as it could be followed by a crushing sadness or a realistic threat of violence. Becky is at a 9.5 on the unhinged scale in the first segment, and she proves there are more unsettling places she can take you before the story has reached its conclusion.
In a career filled with truly outstanding performances, Becky Something might just be the crown jewel for Elisabeth Moss. Rarely does an actress completely throw themselves into a role so detestable while still leaving just enough room for a possible redemption. If you endured the anxiety-inducing Uncut Gems, you have a fair baseline for what is in store for you during this chaotic journey. In the second segment we get introduced to Howard’s last attempt to save his label, the Akergirls (consisting of Ashley Benson, Cara Delevingne, and Dylan Gelula), who are soon added to the ever-growing list of people to whom Becky should make amends. Moss is the focus in this story, but the entire ensemble is dynamite without fail. These three young women handle the crushing disappointment of meeting your idol and the awkward predicament of transcending the success of that person beautifully. This segment and the one that follows finds Becky at her absolute nastiest, and it is almost too much to bear.
Perry is not typically an artist who is willing to offer any kind of emotional catharsis for his distasteful characters, but those who stick with Becky and her story are greeted with something quite beautiful. The possibility of hope after everything the audience goes through for the first three segments seems slim at best. Yet, we get to see Becky at her most emotionally raw one-year into her sobriety. Perry and cinematographer Sean Price Williams gives each segment a stylistic identity that establishes the purpose of each piece of the puzzle, and in this one the audience is granted serenity in a Pacific Northwest cabin. A gentle piano rendition of a pop ballad reaches a level of transcendence as the camera captures an unbroken take of just Moss and a piano baring her soul. This is not a Becky we have known up until this point, and it is one we hope does not leave before the end of the film. Recovery is possible, but as in real life the potential for relapse keeps you holding your breath.
The filmmaking on display here is undeniably bold; it takes a lot of confidence to put an audience through so much unpleasantness and expect them to stay until the end. It works, though. This film is unlike almost any musical exploration that typically makes it to the big screen. Instead of a strict A-to-Z story, we are entrenched in the mind of an unwell person and are forced to reckon with what that experience stirs inside of us. Without the work of Elisabeth Moss, there is a better than average chance this would fall to pieces. At times you hate Becky, but you understand her on a molecular level. Her Smell is something of an endurance test that will not be for everyone, but those who hold on will be gifted with a stirring narrative and a beautiful piece of filmmaking.
Video Quality
Her Smell comes to Blu-Ray with a really gorgeous 1080p video presentation after previously being available in a more bare-bones release in 2019. The basic master is the same but the file size and encoding are better on this new release. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially in the roaming interior shots. The production design from the dressing rooms to the house in the fourth segment, along with the fabrics of clothing, provide crystal clear textural details. The image is clean with the nuanced color palette popping off the screen. The film employs nice splashes of bold colors within the production design, which makes for a very striking image. The black levels are appropriately deep and inky with no discernible digital noise. The flesh tones are natural with a magnificent amount of detail present in close-ups, especially in the bloody face of Becky. It would have been most excellent to get this on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, but this Blu-Ray is a top-tier representation of this movie.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a stellar DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that recreates these claustrophobic locations and situations beautifully. There is very little in the way of hard-hitting moments outside of the two live concert performances, but the environmental sounds of the world engage the surround speakers in a really effective way. When the characters are roaming from room to room, there are some really nice ambient details that flesh out the setting. Dialogue is the driving force of the film, and it always comes through crisp and clear without being clipped by any competing sounds. This is a film that is steeped in music from the songs of these artists to the score from Keegan DeWitt, all of which really shines on this disc. The music in the film fills the speakers in a wonderful, well-balanced way. Certain sound effects engage the low end of the track in a way that provides some nice texture to the proceedings. The audio track is an excellent sounding presentation for this feature in all respects.
Special Features
The Limited Edition Slipcase Edition of the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-Ray of Her Smell comes beautifully packaged in a hard outer case with a graffiti art-esque front cover artwork and rear artwork featuring a polaroid of Becky. Inside this hard outer case is a very sturdy slipcover replicating the Spin Magazine cover featured within the film. The standard case is enclosed within this featuring doubled-sided artwork replicating a concert poster aesthetic. This package also includes a booklet featuring an exploration of the album covers featured in the film with insights from director Alex Ross Perry and collaborator Teddy Blanks. The on-disc special features are as follows:
- Audio Commentary #1: Writer/Director Alex Ross Perry and Actress Elisabeth Moss provide a really fun and insightful new commentary recorded in 2021. In this track, the two reminisce about the process of constructing this film from filming the concert sequences, the blocking and rehearsing of scenes, the gamble they took during filming, the dynamic between performers, the bond forged during their previous collaboration and so much more that makes this one of the better commentary tracks I’ve heard in a while.
- Audio Commentary #2: Writer/Director Alex Ross Perry provides a solidly entertaining commentary track recorded before the movie’s release in 2019 in which he guides you through the film giving anecdotes about the creation of the story and the production of the film. This is not quite as dynamic as the new commentary track since he is rolling solo, but Perry does a great job of providing a lot of minute details that are very entertaining.
- Half Price 2: An unconventional new 15-minute conversation between writer/director Alex Ross Perry and cinematographer Sean Price Williams in which they lightheartedly discuss the making of Her Smell while indulging in some comedic bits. Within this context they do get around to discussing the name of the film, the visual aesthetic of the feature, film stocks, hitting performers in the face with the camera, happy accidents and more.
- The Art Of Noise: A new 47-minute virtual conversation between writer/director Alex Ross Perry, composer Keegan DeWitt, sound designer Ryan Price and editor Robert Greene in which they discuss their collaborative process and how it was specifically applied to this film. There are some interesting conversations about DeWitt understanding the language of the movie based on Perry’s script, how Greene builds this collage of sounds into the final picture, contending with poor acoustics in the venue, the experience of seeing the finished film at the festival premiere and much more.
- Behind The Scenes Footage: A seven-minute selection of previously-unseen HI8 footage which you get glimpses of in the transition between segments in the film.
- Elisabeth Moss and Brandi Carlile: A 48-minute conversation between musician Brandi Carlile and actress Elisabeth Moss at the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival. This is a great conversation in which they discuss inspirations for the character, the creation of the music in the film and how it drives the narrative, their collaborations together, experiences with other projects such as The Handmaid’s Tale and more. This is one of my favorite supplements on the disc and a very valuable watch for fans.
- Akergirls – “Can’t Wait” Music Video: The minute-and-a-half in-character music video is provided here.
- Something She – “Breathe” Music Video: The three-minute in-character music video is provided here.
- Album Cover Gallery: A minute-long collection of album covers created for the film is provided here.
- Behind The Scenes Photos: A nearly 12–minute collection of behind-the-scenes photos taken by director Alex Ross Perry are provided here.
- Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half trailer is provided here.
- Gotham Awards Promo: A 45-second promo is provided here which features a lot of critical notices.
- TV Spots: Three TV Spots (60 seconds, 30 seconds and 15 seconds) are provided here.
Final Thoughts
Her Smell is a deeply uncomfortable journey which rewards those who stick with it by serving up something hopeful. This is ultimately a tale of redemption and the darkness that comes from trying to push down uncertainty. Elisabeth Moss gives one of the greatest performances of her career, which is really saying something for her. The remainder of the ensemble are likewise marvelous and bring a lot to their characters. Gunpowder & Sky and Vinegar Syndrome have released an outstanding new Blu-Ray featuring a top-notch A/V presentation and a stellar selection of supplemental features in gorgeous packaging. If you are a fan of this film, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Highly Recommended
Her Smell is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Gunpowder & Sky and Vinegar Syndrome have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
