Medusa (2021)

AKA Medusa: Queen Of The Serpents.

I ended up watching two movies last week that had the name "Medusa" in the title, with the other one being the excellent Black Medusa. I'd seen the trailer for this film and it didn't look great, but it looked like I might be able to enjoy how ridiculous it was. A feature directorial debut from Matthew B.C. and a script co-written with Scott Jeffrey, one of the writers of the appalling Mother Krampus, things did not bode well for my viewing of this. I am happy to say that I was very wrong. Although the cynic in me could still hang on to the thought that this all came together as a very happy accident, Medusa is actually a surprisingly strong little drama, for the most part, with the fantastical element running under the whole thing until things come to a (snake-covered?) head in the final scenes.

Megan Purvis plays Carly, a young woman who thought she could leave her old life behind. She thought she was moving on to better things. That wasn't to be. So she's back under the wings of Jimmy (Thomas Beatty) and Val (Nicola Wright), two people who effectively acts as pimps between them, and she will end up encountering a number of unsavoury men. She might also turn once again to drugs, which provide n escape from a pretty miserable existence. But things take a strange turn when Carly is bitten by a snake.

The myth of Medusa is an extremely potent one, and it's one that can be viewed in a way that shows her as a seriously wronged woman rightfully full of rage. Once viewed as a monster, perhaps it can be valid to view her as a victim, a powerful female lashing out at the people who failed to consider her wants and needs. It's certainly this idea that permeates Medusa, despite the title and trailer hinting at something much more schlocky and lazily put together.

Purvis is good in the main role. Whether seeing her skin start to transform and shed or encountering men that she would much rather stay far away from, she remains believable at all times. It gets a bit trickier for her when there is more make up involved, but she resists the urge to go completely over the top. Beatty is great, playing someone very easy to dislike, and Wright does decent work, despite not being onscreen for all that long. Sarah T. Cohen is Carly's friend, Simone, and she's another one who does well, as does Jamila Wingett, in a small, but vital, role (Alexis) that could have so easily been overplayed and laughable.

B.C. and Jeffrey do the best with what they have. Considering the approach normally taken by Jeffrey, and by Jagged Edge Productions (the company behind this), it's a minor miracle that we have ended up with something this good. Much like some other British film companies that have sprung up lately, the motto seems to be "make 'em quick and cheap, and lots of them", as you can see from their recent slew of releases, as well as the busy filmographies of Purvis and co. This manages not to feel like it was made that way. It's an interesting character piece that happens to have a supernatural heart to it. Weak opening sequence aside, it's a film that goes from strength to strength.

Kudos to everyone involved. I may be a bit too generous here, perhaps overdoing the praise because of how much it surpassed my low expectations, but credit where credit is due. This deserves 87 minutes of your time, as long as you realise that it's not a SyFy-level, or worse, cheesefest. It's surprisingly powerful stuff.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews