Excision

I'm not sure what to make of Excision. Or how to describe it. Or how to review it. I can tell you it centers on Pauline, the oldest of two daughters. She is fascinated with the macabre. She often dreams of violent mutilation of corpses with sexual overtones, and wakes up in an orgasmic state. She has no social filters when it comes to interaction. Her strict fundamentalist mother does not understand her and has no patience for her, possibly (it is unsaid) because Pauline's younger sister, Grace, has cystic fibrosis. Their dad, Bob, has minimal engagement with the family, and is mostly badgered into silence by his overbearing wife, Phyllis. I could say it's a coming of age story, but that's not really true, not in the way a movie like Dumplin' or The Breakfast Club is a coming of age story. I could also call it a psychological profile of a teenage girl trying to find herself as she stands way, way on the outside fringes of the world, but it's not just that either. The movie spends a long time nurturing the relationships in the movie and exploring Pauline's psyche. She is obsessed with losing her virginity, but has no interest in romantic love (and she wants to lose her virginity while menstruating, because of her fascination with blood). She wants to be a surgeon later in life, no doubt inspired by -- and almost contradictory to -- her morbid interest in dead bodies and blood and mutilation. It perhaps spends too much time on this, as there are times where, even at barely 80 minutes, it feels like the movie isn't moving towards something. On the flip side, though, I do have to give it credit for not lapsing into cliches. Pauline doesn't resent Grace for the extra attention she needs because of her condition; they may be different personalities entirely, but there is genuine love between the two. Conversely, Phyllis never undergoes that 3rd act redemption so common in teenage movies with a toxic parent, where they suddenly get how crappy they've been; Phyllis is who she is, and there is no "a-ha!" moment. Grace isn't portrayed as some perfect angel that just so happens to have an illness; she's just a girl that's sick. As bizarre as this movie can be, it nails its primary characters. There is some fascinating casting and direction, too. Phyllis -- a strict, cruel, fundamentalist -- is played by Traci Lords, in what feels like some kind of inside joke for how Lords first became known. Ariel Winter as Grace is charming and sweet without feeling like cloying or precious. She's just a fourteen year old girl, no more, no less. It's Pauline's show, though, and she is played by AnnaLynne McCord. If you look up a picture of McCord, you'll see she's an attractive lady with honey blonde hair and a big smile. You see NONE OF THAT WHATSOEVER in Excision. This isn't like She's All That, where they took a hottie like Rachel Leigh Cook, put her in overalls and glasses and said "look, she's unattractive and weird!". No, Excision goes out of its way to make Pauline's external appearance match her personality; she has blemishes, her hair is dark brown and never washed, she hunches over constantly, and wears baggy clothing to hide any trace of femininity. McCord's performance is a reflection of that; she is abrasive, caustic, and does not have the time nor inclination to read the room. She operates on her own wavelength and woe be to anyone else who doesn't, which is just about everybody. Her interest in blood and viscera and body horror seems like she's just being goth ... but there's also something off about her. Something that seems a step beyond. It's hard to pinpoint, and it's by design; she is meant to keep the viewer and the characters around her at arm's length. Is she just acting out? Are these teenage growing pains? Or is she something more? You don't know. And then the last ten minutes happen, and all bets are off. I won't say anything more about it. Just know it reframes everything, and hits like a sucker punch from a wrecking ball. The only thing holding it back from getting all the stars is the pacing. Yes, it is laying out a lot of threads to come together in the end, and it does come together very effectively, but it is a LOT of set-up. The performances, though, are so worth it. I sat with this movie overnight thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more impressed I am. It's the kind of movie that begs to be rewatched with the context of the ending, and I may do just that soon. Who knows. It may bump up the score.