Mari and her friends broadcast their spiritual devotion through pastel pinks and catchy evangelical songs about purity and perfection, but underneath it all, they harbor a deep rage. By day they hide behind their manicured facade, and by night they form a masked, vigilante girl gang, prowling the streets in search of sinners who have deviated from the rightful path. After an attack goes wrong, leaving Mari scarred and unemployed, her view of community, religion, and her peers begin to shift. Nightmares of repressed desires and haunting visions of alluring temptation become undeniable and the urge to scream and release her paralyzing inner demons is more powerful than ever before. A neon-tinged genre-bender that gives provocative form to the overwhelming feminine fury coursing through modern life, MEDUSA dares us not to look away.
For in-depth thoughts on Medusa, please see my colleague Andre Couture’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Medusa comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is truly stunning. This is a visually dynamic film with carefully composed shots against stark backgrounds where you can see an incredible amount of detail. The transfer maintains a natural look where subtle elements of the makeup and production design are able to come through. The film has notable splashes of colors in the more performative moments to contrast with the dour existence during the downtime. The healthcare interiors are typically a more decaying environment that present with more moderate tones that the presentation represents accurately. The white levels are handled beautifully, along with the deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts and only a small amount of banding. The skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. This presentation is a standout effort from the label.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with both a DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track in the original Portuguese that perfectly handles the propulsive artistic endeavors of the narrative. The film uses music in really evocative ways that fill the room, especially in some of the more bass-heavy tunes. The dialogue comes through perfectly clear without ever being overpowered by the sound effects or the score. The sound design is just as precisely conceived as the on screen visuals with all elements positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects create a really three-dimensional soundscape of nature and the din of the certain crowds. This is not an action-heavy film, but activity in the low end is strong thanks to the music. This is a lovely sounding release that brings the movie to life in a remarkable way. There are optional English, Spanish and French subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Screams Of Liberation: A 28-minute interview with director Anita Rocha da Silveira in which she discusses her excitement with mixing genre, the real-life inspiration for the narrative, the rising conservatism in Brazil, the journey of her main character, how she uses myths to inform her story, the shooting locations, the importance of music and more that makes for a really informative piece.
- Deleted Scenes: Nearly ten minutes of unused, unfinished scenes are provided here which provide some interesting moments, but they were understandably cut since the movie was already pretty long.
- Director Q&A: A 25-minute Q&A from the Angelika Film Center with director Anita Rocha da Silveira moderated by journalist Jourdain Searles in which she discusses the origins of the project, developing her characters, writing from a non-white perspective, the place of Brazil in her story, evolving from her first feature and more.
- The Laugh Of Medusa: An 11-minute visual essay from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas in which she explores some of the themes woven into Medusa, how it connects back to the titular myth, visuals motifs within the film, and much more that makes for a very engaging watch.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
Medusa is a film that announces itself like a slap in the face before going to some unexpected, thrilling places. The way in which writer-director Anita Rocha da Silveira takes classic mythology and uses it to tell a piercingly relevant story is quite an achievement. The film is aesthetically very bold and creates a reality that seems in step with such choices. She has assembled a young cast who put forth fearless performances that elevate the movie to even greater heights. Hopefully this will find the right audience to keep it from becoming a cry into the void. Music Box Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a top-notch A/V presentation and an assortment of great special features. While this movie will not be for all, if you are a fan of confident experimental filmmaking, there is much to delight in here. Recommended
Medusa is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Music Box Films Home Entertainment has 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.