IN FABRIC Review—A Horror Film Rooted in Longing
Jerry Smith
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Starring: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Hayley Squires
Written by: Peter Strickland
Directed by: Peter Strickland
A film rooted in longing for something or someone and doing your best to just feel good about yourself, Peter Strickland’s most recent entry is one of the most uniquely original horror/comedies in quite some time. Having previously tackled the horror-filled landscape of sound design in Berberian Sound Studio and the BDSM-filled relationship between two women in the amazing 2014 film The Duke of Burgundy, Strickland has now given horror lovers one hell of an auteur-driven, ‘70s-laced ride in the form of In Fabric.
Revolving around a single red dress and the lives the garment comes into and destroys, In Fabric wastes no time in showing its viewers that Strickland has no intention of playing it safe. A recently divorced mother played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste uses the dress as a means to feel good about herself for once, having felt the pain of being lonely and without anyone to love. A washing machine repairman dared by friends to wear the same dress begins to feel obsessed with it until it leads to jealousy from his finance and a revelation that the department store that sells the dress has a sinister agenda. These interwoven stories found within In Fabric are what makes Strickland’s vision so enthralling. As a viewer, you genuinely have no idea where the film is going and that works for its own advantage.
While the synopsis involving a killer dress could venture into B-movie territory in one’s mind, it’s never the case with In Fabric. Instead, viewers are given something similar to what would happen if Stanley Kubrick and Ken Russell were hired by Roger Corman to make a film that addressed our own obsession with not only fashion but the need to dress up just to feel decent about ourselves. There are big ideas found within the film and we’re given those ideas in the form of obsession, murder, sex, and ritualistic ceremony, all within one single film.
Jean-Baptiste really shines as Sheila, the first “victim” of the dress. Sheila wants to feel wanted again and the fact that not only is her rebellious son getting more action than she is, but that his new girlfriend (A devilish Gwendoline Christie) is one of the most offensively rude individuals around, drives Sheila into that desire to feel better about herself and into what could only be described as a Satanic department store, where even picking a new article of clothing comes with its own ritual involving blood, semen and god knows what else. Make no mistake, Strickland pulls absolutely no punches with what he puts on the screen and In Fabric in turn gives its viewers an insane ride that bucks any expectations you might have going into it.
One of the most surprising ingredients of In Fabric is how in the middle of some crazy things happening, there is a lot of comedy relief, mostly in the form of two low level supervisors played by Julian Barratt and Steve Oram. The two men seem to get off on telling Sheila how her minor offenses at work are big deals and it’s a recurring theme in both vignettes, the dress not only ruining its possessor in a physical sense, but also in an outside sense. Each person who wears the dress feels their lives fall into disarray, and the dress’s desire to destroy leads to quite a few sequences in which you find yourself holding your hands in front of your mouth, wondering if you’re seeing what you think you are.
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IN FABRIC
Summary
In Fabric isn’t for everyone, and it might be a little too much for your casual killer dress fare, but there is nothing short of magic involved in Strickland’s execution of the film and it’s one of the most refreshing films in a good while. A very enthralling look at the desire to shield our insecurities with fashion, In Fabric is one more reason to bow at the altar of Strickland. Check it out.
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