A new trailer for Medusa Deluxe has been released, showing the delectably murderous world of competitive hairdressing. Produced by A24, the movie is a whodunnit dark comedy where a hairdressing quickly turns from fab to drab.
The film centres around a murder mystery to solve the mysterious death of a contestant at a hairdressing competition. Passion turns into obsession in this film where beauty has never been so dangerous, as this dark British comedy.
Medusa Deluxe is writer and director Thomas Hardiman’s feature film debut. Hardiman is said to have been influenced to make Medusa Deluxe by the childhood memories of waiting for his mother at the hairdresser. Hardiman has previously directed the 2015 short film Radical Hardcore, a love story about the history of British carpet making which won the BFI’s Network Pick Series. He has also directed the animated short film Pitch Black Panacea in 2020.
The entire film takes place in real time, through one single shot. Robbie Ryan serves as director of photography on the film, and has previously worked on films including Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.
London-born Eugene Souleiman leads the hair department in Medusa Deluxe. He has worked with numerous fashion companies as well as creating hair designs for Lady Gaga. he production also released a few images, giving a sneak peek into the fabulous hair designs from the film.
The film first premiered last year at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. Hardiman later went on to win Best Director at Austin’s Fantastic Fest in the United States. It is now scheduled for a limited theatrical release in the UK, along with its release on video on demand service MUBI.
The film is the latest release in a long time of A24 successes. A24 kicked off the year on a high with their film Everything Everywhere All At Once sweeping up at the Academy Awards, including star Michelle Yeoh’s history making win as the first Asian Best Actress winner.
The production company has had further success this year with Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid starring Joaquin Phoenix, South Korean-American drama Past Lives, and the Julia Louis-Dreyfus dramedy You Hurt My Feelings.
This Sweeney Todd-esque dark comedy stars Vampire Academy’s Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Timba and Eastenders actress Clare Perkins as Cleve. Kayla Meikle plays Divine with The Wheel of Time’s Kae Alexander as Inez. Royal Shakespeare Company actor Darrell D’Silva plays Rene, with Harriet Webb as Kendra and Skins’ Luke Pasqualino as Angel.
Medusa Deluxe will be available in select theatres and VOD on August 11, 2023.