The Perfumier
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Pretentious thriller has violence, disturbing imagery.
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The Perfumier
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What's the Story?
In THE PERFUMIER, Sunny is a rookie cop who's having an affair with Juro (August Diehl), her married partner. One of her first cases involves the murder of a hitchhiker she had recently picked up -- a serial murderer who removes the glands of their victims. While they soon capture Rex, an accomplice to the killings, the actual killer, Dorian (Robert Finster), a deranged perfume maker, remains at large. An attempt to capture Dorian while his lair is on fire leads to later complications for Sunny. Shortly after giving birth to her child, she loses her sense of smell. As Dorian remains at large, Juro has been trying to end the affair with Sunny. She remains in pursuit of Dorian, who reveals to her that he's trying to create a perfume that perfectly embodies the feeling of love. Sunny must try to stop him, even as she may have other reasons for taking Dorian's perfume, and must find a way to regain her sense of smell.
Is It Any Good?
This movie (wait for it) "stinks." Yes, it's low-hanging rotten fruit to say something so obvious about a movie centered on the sense of smell, but in the case of The Perfumier, it also holds true. It's a pretentious goth German horror-thriller in the tradition of modern-day retellings of "mad scientist" stories. Only in this case, our mad scientist is a melodramatic psychopath willing to go to any length to create a smell that truly embodies capital-L love. He's joined by an equally obsessed mutant fashionista as they try to elude capture from our narrator, a young cop who pays a steep price for trying to capture them.
This exercise in steampunk verité is not for everyone, obviously, but it might be entertaining for those whose tastes lean toward the morbid and brooding. Even so, the self-indulgent side stories and overused voice-over exposition grow tiresome, no matter the audience's capacity for angst-wallowing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Perfumier is based on a book. What would be the challenges in adapting a book into a movie?
How do the violence and disturbing imagery compare to other thriller or horror movies? Was it necessary to the movie, or did it seem excessive? Why?
How does the movie address issues like alcoholism and abusive homes?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: September 21, 2022
- Cast: Sólveig Arnarsdóttir , August Diehl , Robert Finster
- Director: Nils Willbrandt
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Thriller
- Topics: Book Characters
- Run time: 96 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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