The dynamic examination of the rise and fall of pop stardom seems to be a rather popular theme on this year’s festival circuit. Along with “A Star is Born” and “Vox Lux,” Alex Ross Perry’s latest punk rock drama “Her Smell”” now rounds off the trifecta. Starring Elisabeth Moss, “Her Smell,” a tale of 90s punk rock excess and mental breakdown premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year to much acclaim (our review). Now finally have our first full trailer.
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“Her Smell” centers on destructive musician Becky Something, who finds herself at an all-time-high as her rock band Something She triumphantly thrives. However, her toxic and audacious attitudes towards her bandmates, her family, and herself will ultimately prove to be the catalyst of her gradual collapse. Led by the aforementioned “The Handmaid’s Tale” revelatory actress Elisabeth Moss, who apparently puts in an emotionally bruising performance, “Her Smell” seems to be a brutally honest portrait of fame and self-destruction – the weight of the world left to set on Becky Something’s shoulders.
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Here’s the official synopsis courtesy of TIFF’s site from last year.
All hail the tale of Becky Something, the brilliant and brash frontwoman for the ’90s rock band Something She. Becky is foul-mouthed, nihilistic, and incredibly talented. Mother of one, bandmate to two, and friend to none, Becky is at the height of her career and the top of the party game — with only one direction to go.
Filmmaker Alex Ross Perry, best known for his literary-inspired works like “Listen Up Philip“ and “Golden Exits,” changes modes here, giving us a ride on Becky’s freight train to self-destruction. Drawing from examples of experiential filmmaking by the likes of John Cassavetes and Paul Thomas Anderson, Perry whips his characters and sequences into a frenzy of substance abuse and personal combustion as we follow the starlet through backstage antics and hostile recording sessions. He keeps the audience on their toes as lengthy tracking turns into uniquely telling angles (courtesy of 35mm cinematography from DOP Sean Price Williams) and his sudden shifts in tone hit us with waves of emotion. The already accolade-showered Elisabeth Moss is a tour de force as Becky, the eye of this hurricane, tearing everything she cares about apart until all that is left is to rebuild.
For Moss, this is a career-defining performance that emanates pathos and sweat. She is supported by a slew of perfectly cast recognizable faces, including Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, Virginia Madsen, Dan Stevens, Ashley Benson, and Eric Stoltz. The film is punk rock in every sense of the term, and reminds us of the humanity behind the fuckup in everyone.
From producers Matthew Perniciaro, Adam Piotrowicz, Michael Sherman, and Elisabeth Moss herself, “Her Smell”” is definitely one of our most anticipated titles of 2019. “Her Smell” opens in limited release April 12th (NY); April 19th (LA) with national expansion to follow Distributor via Gunpowder & Sky. Watch the new trailer below.