Perfect Blue

Not sure what to say that hasn't already been said before. It's a classic for a reason, particularly in the psychological thriller/horror genre. For a movie with a reputation of being notoriously confusing, I didn't really feel all that confused. The second half can be hard to follow as Mima's sense of reality starts to melt but to me the point clearly isn't disorientation for the sake of it. Like most movies, Perfect Blue is not a reality-puzzle meant to be solved but an emotional journey meant to be felt. Through the disorienting editing, the audience viscerally experiences Mima's slipping grasp on reality themselves. She's slipping in and out of reality as she further and further loses her sense of personhood. To be clear, from the very beginning she clearly held little autonomy in her own life. Events initiated by others happen to her as she sits by in the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) passenger seat. Her actions never quite feel like hers, which goes places when coupled with the sexualitation she experiences and the dubious nature of her consent to some of the movie's most disturbing scenes. This ties into the movie's key conflict, namely the disconnect between the public person, how one is perceived and expected to do and to be like, and the real person, what one actually is like, and what happens when the former eclipses the latter. Satoshi Kon was a master of his craft and it is a tragedy we lost him so early. It's unbelievable that this is a debut feature.