We often tend to think of Victorian-era gothic stories as subtle, filled with sad and sombre people, shadows looming long with ghosts taking up residence. But sometimes it can be bloody, nasty, with just the right dose of camp and sheer murderous glee. It's still pretty horrific, but leaves the subtlety aside for getting right to the heart of the matter (literally).
Directed by Zachary Wigon (Sanctuary) and written by Virginia Feito (based on her own novel of the same name), Victorian Psycho is just such a film. In fact, calling it 'gothic' might be disingenuous; this is a horror film through and through, and delightfully so. It might use a gothic house and era as setting, but the danger is very corporeal, and the 'ghosts' that haunt the characters are recognized and visible in the behaviour of the house's inhabitants. Pretty much everyone is a monster; just some of them have the power or lust to make use of their monstrosity.
Winnifred Notty (Maika Monroe) is arriving an Enson House, the estate of the Pounds family, her most recent place of employment, where she will take up the post of Governess to two children, Andrew (Jacobi Jude) and Drusilla (Evie Templeton). Their mother Mrs. Pounds (Ruth Wilson) makes it clear that only Andrew's education matters, and Mr. Pounds (Jason Isaacs) seems to care little about what goes on, as long as he is left alone. Winnifred is desperate for this situation to work out, as it seems her other jobs have not ended well. And pretty quickly, we (mostly) find out why.
From nearly the first titles frame of the film, mirroring the tilt of Winnifred's head, it's clear that our protagonist is also the villain of the film. Why bother to hide it? While the film recognizes that she is insane, it is not against her as such. If she takes out her anger on those around her, they are not entirely undeserving. The servants treat her as a nuisance; the children as their underling; the parents as their near-slave. No one, not even the mostly kind nurse Miss Lamb (Thomasin McKensie) is good. But the story also makes it clear: this is the society in which they are forced to exist, where class lines are absolute, as is the line between master and servant, and only the former may cross it at their leisure. Just about everyone is mean and cruel, so it's not surprising that Winnifred would grow up to be so as well.
The story is a blend, then, or horror and very dark comedy; not uncommon, but the darkness is made of all those usually unspoken terrors that haunt, figuratively and literally, families over generations: abuse, incest, racism, and the desperate need of the rich to keep themselves at the top and everyone else firmly under their boots. Feito, Wigon and the cast perfectly balance that dark humour in a twisted camp style that makes just clear enough how they all ended up being such shitty people, while not letting them off the hook. Chewing the scenery is a requirement, and it is well consumed.
Not to mention how lush the film looks; the cinematography makes the blood and guts luscious, the shadows are the kind of black that you fear disappearing into, and the details in the costume, set, and design make you feel that this is the gothic home turned inside out. It strikes an absurdist tone which again, feels like an inverted gothic horror. It allows for a catharsis of dark laughter while still being frightening, enhancing the performances. And Wigon sure does love his bodymount camera shots: this is not a criticism at all, though while they are numerous, they are not misplaced, and give an almost 3D feel to the story that make it all that more visceral.
Even with a stacked cast who are all amazing, making the most of every scene and knowing exactly how to walk that line between the darkly comic and the horrifyingly cruel, the film belongs to Monroe. She is absolutely committed to this role of a woman somewhat rightfully deranged, being told from birth that she is the devil, bludgeoning and stabbing her way to the life she deserves, by her own twisted moral standards. If the society Winnifred inhabits is sick at heart, she is the manifestation of that illness.
Victorian Psycho has its proverbial cake and eats it too: it manages to have a fair amount of substance while still relishing in some gruesome kills. Almost no one is spared from its wrath, it pulls no punches, making for a wild and thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Victorian Psycho opens in the USA and Canada on Friday, November 13th.