Not Okay recently offered a contemporary look into the fragile world of internet influencers, where they go beyond their limits to achieve fame without realizing the harm they might cause to others and themselves. Everybody seeks perfection, but when it becomes an obsession the cost of achieving it requires much more than anyone could’ve bargained for.
There are many movies about the sacrifices of becoming a perfect artist or delivering the perfect performance, but only a few managed to capture the despair of sacrificing everything, even one’s humanity in order to be perfect in what they do.
The Novice (2021)
The Novice follows Alex, a college freshman who goes through an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top of her university’s rowing team. There’s not a single frame in The Novice in which Isabelle Fuhrman’s character looks slightly relaxed. Always on the verge of anxiety and pushing herself beyond her limits, she locks herself from friends and social life while pressure mounts from all sides.
The film’s chilling, gray atmosphere helps immerse viewers in a tireless character study. Alex’s intentions are rooted in repressed feelings and a will to achieve something greater than others think she’s capable of.
Eyes Without A Face (1960)
In the case of Eyes Without A Face, the obsession for perfection is triggered by a horrific tragedy: the talented Dr. Génessier renders his once beautiful daughter completely disfigured in an accident. Keeping her away from society, the doctor resorts to a wicked plan for bringing his daughter’s beauty back, kidnapping young women in the search for a face just like hers.
Dr. Génessier’s obsession quickly turns him into a monster; he makes his victims suffer for nothing because he’s never satisfied with the results. Eyes Without A Face escalates into a mix of body horror and psychological thriller where mysterious intentions are hidden behind masks, in a story where faces are all that matter.
Pleasure (2022)
Pleasure delivers a brutally raw look into the pornographic industry through the eyes of Bella Cherry, an amateur who goes to LA hoping to become the world’s next big porn star. What starts off as her life goal quickly turns into a obsession as Bella realizes the sacrifices the industry demands from women and the sense of competition that sways everyone in the business.
In her journey towards stardom, Bella is sexually assaulted more than once, watches friends become enemies, and is caught up in a business where every piece of her turns into a product. Going down a slippery slope, she doesn’t let any of this get in the way of her goals, even though she gradually loses every bit of the person she used to be.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood offers a range of nuanced characters such as Sharon Tate, a prominent real-life actress from the 60s, Cliff Booth, an easy-going stunt double with a short temper, and Rick Dalton, a struggling actor stuck between cinema and TV. Dalton stands out as the one who wants to be successful at all costs; when his stardom seems to be falling apart, he gets absolutely lost. In a quest for perfection, he spills out exaggerated emotions and seems to be on the verge of a breakdown.
Through his eyes and Tate’s, the vibrant Hollywood scene unravels before viewers. While some plot a drastic change to that thriving scenario, others like Rick Dalton try to live up to the iconic characters they once played in order to show they also matter as actors. In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, characters look back into the past in a search for perfection as the present slips under their hands.
American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho, is a film set in the 80s, that showcases the overly materialist lifestyle led by Wolf Street men back then, using it to portray an American society obsessed with capitalism and appearances. To represent all that toxicity, the film introduces Patrick Bateman, a successful investment banker who struggles to fight off his psychopathic impulses to kill people for the most meaningless reasons.
Bateman’s obsession with perfection is reflected in every single aspect of his life. At work, he gets furious at his coworkers because their business cards appear to be better than his. During sex, he stares at his own image in the mirror throughout the whole act. When he kills, every single thing needs to happen exactly as he planned, otherwise he goes full berserk. When little mistakes start to snowball into a tricky situation, Bateman begins to lose his grip on reality..
Phantom Thread
Phantom Thread isn’t the most renowned movie by Paul Thomas Anderson but it certainly is his most refined work. Needles, thread, and constant tailoring make out the world of famous dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, a man who sees his meticulously crafted routine turn upside down after meeting his muse, Alma Elson.
Phantom Thread is a movie about a perfectionist in many ways. Woodcock carefully crafts his persona and success just like he does with his dresses, and above it all there’s his obsession for perfection in love, showcased by his fierce relationship with Alma. This obsession takes over both of them and ignites a flame of conspiracy between the couple. However, this very conspiracy turns out to be what keeps them together.
The Prestige (2006)
In one of Hugh Jackman’s best roles, starring alongside Christian Bale, the two men play two former friends, now rival magicians trying to get ahold of a perfect trick. The obsession of the two characters with outwitting each other leads them to go beyond the limits of reality and illusion. In their search for perfection, they sacrifice every bit of humanity left on them as their objectives bitterly turn into a wicked game of revenge.
The Prestige offers an engaging look into the world of illusionists and showbusiness back in the 1890s, but the oppressive competition between the two magicians is really what makes the movie one of Christopher Nolan’s most sophisticated works, especially when it comes to worldbuilding and character development.
Adaptation (2002)
Charlie Kaufman can turn every meaningless thing into a multifaceted, absurd narrative, even creative blocks. Given the arduous task to adapt Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief into a movie script and unable to come up with something, he brought his struggles to the screen with one of the most self-aware movies of all time.
In Adapation, Nicolas Cage plays Kaufman as a self-loathed man on the verge of a breakdown. Kaufman’s real-life obsession for perfection and his anxieties caused by it are adapted to the screen just like Susan Orlean’ book should’ve been. Half trying to find a purpose for his own life, half finding a way to turn The Orchid Thief into a movie, Kaufman delivers a metafilm that turns into a brilliant mess as reality intersects cinema.
Black Swan (2010)
Black Swan is probably the first movie that comes to mind when it comes to obsession. Darren Aronofsky is considered a master of bringing out incredible performances from actors and Natalie Portman might be the most remarkable in his career. Everything in the film works because of her moves, her expressions, and most importantly, her look. The cost of perfection is transmitted through Portman’s chilling, haunting eyes.
Black Swan offers a journey into Nina Sayers’ psyche, a young ballerina who struggles to maintain her sanity after earning the lead role in an important production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. In the demanding process of understanding her character, Nina’s own personality shatters and her obsession threatens to take over every aspect of her life.
Whiplash
Whiplash was the movie that showed the world Damien Chazelle was one of a kind. The film follows a talented young drummer instructed by a ruthless, demanding professor. In a sweaty attempt to stand out as the best, his thirst for perfection gradually turns him into an unstable, deranged person.
Whiplash is brutal and vicious, even though it hardly resorts to any real face-offs. The master-and-pupil dynamic is constantly on the verge of exploding as both sides try relentlessly and indirectly to take over each other. The film only works so well because of the performance of J. K. Simmons and Miles Teller; their chemistry together keeps Whiplash in vibrant motion as Simmons plays the oppressive force that drives Teller’s character obsession to a point of no return.
