The Perfect Host is about a wanted man trying to find a safe place to lay low after committing a crime for reasons that are later revealed. When he finds a place to hideaway, he gets way more than he bargained for when he crashes someone preparing for a dinner party. Will the cops capture him or will he get away without getting hurt?
The Perfect Host attracted my attention for two things: a perfect preview and David Hyde Pierce as the titular character. Despite or maybe because the preview showed a major twist, which isn’t revealed in the movie until thirty-one minutes into the ninety-three minute movie, I really wanted to know how things would turn out. It was a great hook, but if you want to be surprised, avoid the preview. The movie leans quite heavily on Pierce’s resume, specifically because he played Niles in Frasier as the titular character’s brother. I watched and loved Frasier so I loved the idea of exploring another version of Niles in an alternate timeline.
Viewers rate The Perfect Host rather low so I’m a favorable outlier. If I had to guess why people did not like it as much as I did, there are probably one to two twists too many that strained people’s credulity. There is also a moment when a character decides not to seize an opportunity that seems like a no brainer, but doesn’t. There is also possibly one plot hole that threatens to ruin the movie’s ending, and the ending seems a bit out of character even considering what we have learned about that person. None of these issues were deal breakers for me, and if I squinted and tilted my head or purposely brushed over those moments, I still think that overall the movie is riveting, and I never had any idea where it was going to end up. As someone who watches a lot of movies, the ability to surprise me, especially considering that I knew a huge part of the plot, is impressive. Maybe other viewers thought the whole enterprise was too ridiculous, and I think that is a fair reaction, but I was willing to buy it.
The Perfect Host also gets extra points because my mom does not enjoy watching movies if they are not based on a true story. Our tastes are dramatically different. My mom also sets up all these self-imposed restrictions based on her definition of Sabbath, which includes when she can watch television. She violated all those rules, left her room and joined me to watch a portion of the movie before she tore herself away to return to her Sabbath. Later on, she pelted me with questions about how the movie ended. Somehow this strange little movie had a broad enough appeal to attract an elderly woman with conventional tastes, and a middle-aged woman who is harder to please based on the dialogue alone.
The Perfect Host worked for me. It plays off our assumptions of both major and minor characters based on initial impressions, has increasingly escalating face offs to determine who advances to the next confrontation, challenges those assumptions by telling a story by cutting from the present to the past of the main character, the criminal, shifting from the criminal’s to Pierce’s character’s perspective, and shifting throughout the present story line by periodically checking in during the present timeline with two supporting characters of varying importance and involvement while never becoming confusing. It also establishes ground rules only to pull the rug out from under us. Our reaction teaches us a ton about ourselves: what we want to see, what gives us relief or disappoints us. The movie tells us about our own deviant internal tendencies.
I’m glad that I knew the first twist because I was able to appreciate the layers of Pierce’s performance. I also have to applaud The Perfect Host for exploiting ambiguities about his sexuality, which is more of a Rorschach test for the viewer and other characters than about him. There is a thin line between depicting eccentricities and ridiculing or exploiting stereotypes, and somehow this movie simultaneously showed enough restraint, horror and sympathy to make these characters individuals rather than generalities, which means I can still enjoy it without silently rebuking them.
An understated part of The Perfect Host’s character study of the titular character and the criminal is how they are more similar than they know. The last twist involving the criminal reveals that both men deceive themselves albeit in more socially acceptable ways. The socially acceptable way actually leads to more devastating personal consequences and self-destruction than the dysfunctional way. I initially did not like the final plot twist, but in retrospect I appreciate it more.
The Perfect Host is a compelling spectrum of toxic masculinity, including how women can fall prey to that mentality, which is a really provocative idea that is only briefly alluded to at the beginning of the film. Each individual is the star of his personal movie, whether it is a memory or a delusion. In the real world, to remain the star, you have to have power or find a way to have the upper hand. Who will win? These characters have big egos, and the biggest con that they accomplish is when they con themselves and believe there won’t be consequences to or effective opposition against their actions. At some point, the jig has to be up. I don’t mind the ending because I buy that one guy thinks a lone confrontation is sufficient for someone to fold, and the other guy thinks that he knows how to get the upper hand even though his opponent is not his usual target.
I love the editing and pacing, especially at the beginning of The Perfect Host. It is a beautiful movie that sustains its tone even while it is constantly changing. For example, the cutting from the opening credits and action paired with the music gets us excited then gradually eases off the gas while still careening forward. The movie also managed to ask questions that I was silently asking about the characters. I imagine that making a movie is similar to writing in the way that you are so absorbed in creating that you forget what it is like to consume your creation, but this movie deftly wears multiple hats.
If I could change anything about The Perfect Host, it would be two moments. I don’t like the moment when the criminal reveals his identity. Nothing compelled him to do so at that precise moment. I don’t like the catalyst for the last scene. I don’t know how the criminal was able to get that object. Maybe I missed a crucial moment, but I did. Sure the whole premise requires a certain amount of creative license, but I was able to give it.
The Perfect Host is a strange and occasionally disturbing movie, but ultimately it is more satisfying than not. Pierce fans should definitely check it out. There is violence and sexual situations so avoid if it is contrary to your sensibilities.