Sissy (2022)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com January 2, 2023

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This one has a lot of dark humor. It was very good overall, with a strong cast, unique script, and excellent special effects. Once things get going, it’s a wild ride of frantic damage control and mayhem.

Synopsis

Sissy and Emma were best friends in childhood. Sissy grows up to be an influencer with an online show about hyperventilating and meditation and coping and selling facial masks. She has over 200,000 followers, so she must be doing it right. She finishes the video and goes to read her feedback, and it’s all very positive and gushing.

She goes to the store for some stuff and sees Emma there. She gets upset and tries to avoid her, but Emma spots her and is really happy to see her. Sissy isn’t happy, but she smiles and fakes it. Sissy says she’s “Cecilia” now. Emma invites her to her engagement party at a bar, and Cecilia reluctantly accepts.

Cecilia sits in her car afterwards and seems upset. She remembers the good times they had together and smiles. At the party, Emma is really pushy, but it’s clear that Cecilia is shy and without real confidence, despite being an Internet star. After a vomit-mishap, Emma asks her to come to her “hen’s weekend” in a few days. After that, Cecilia has fun at the party.

That night, at home, she sees a younger version of herself in the dark bedroom, but she’s covered in blood. Nope- just a dream!

When the time comes, Emma picks up Cecilia and several friends, and they all drive out to a house in the country. On the way, she learns that Alex is going to be there. Cecilia remembers Alex as the bully who ruined her friendship with Emma. She’s so distracted that she runs into a kangaroo on the road. Between the news about Alex and the kangaroo, she’s pretty upset.

Actually, it turns out to be Alex’s house, and Alex isn’t happy to see her either. Alex goes outside to yell at Emma for inviting her, “She’s crazy!”

Cecilia doesn’t fit in with the others and soon wanders off on her own to recite her affirmations again. She gives Emma the Time Capsule they buried when they were little and then shows her the video that was inside. Cecilia says that she’s a “mental health advocate,” specializing in self-acceptance. Tracy and Jamie are impressed. The others turn on her, saying she’s not really qualified to do that. Fran is studying to be an actual doctor, and Alex belittles Cecilia’s job.

Cecilia freaks out, goes into the bathroom, and sits inside her rope circle, something we saw in her show earlier, making a safe space. Emma comes in to console her, and Cecilia breaks down crying. Emma says that all that stuff that happened between Cecilia and Alex was a long time ago, and they both need to get past it.

That night, Alex comes out to talk to Cecilia one-on-one and apologizes. Cecilia seems terrified of her, but accepts the apology. Then she rips her face off— nope, dream again.

The next morning, Cecilia overhears the group talking mean about her again. She remembers not being invited to Emma’s birthday party because Emma liked Alex better. Alex is so mean that even the others get turned off a little.

Cecilia confronts Alex right afterward, but Alex calls her a psychopath. Alex has Cecilia’s phone and records a video of what Cecilia “did to her.” There’s a struggle over the phone, and Alex winds up dead. We get a flashback to the birthday party incident where Cecilia stabbed Alex in the face with a spade.

Cecilia then drags the body away into the woods to bury her and takes her half of the “best friend forever” necklace. Then she creates a cheerful, uplifting video about “simple acts of kindness.” Jamie walks out into the woods and pees on Alex’s impromptu grave. Then he discovers Alex buried there and starts to run. He doesn’t get very far before becoming Sissy’s next video. Emma gets washed downstream by accident.

Fran consoles Emma, who feels bad about Alex and Emma not getting along. Cecilia cuts herself and then asks Tracy for help. “I’m a good person,” Cecilia insists as she drowns Tracy in the bathtub.

Meanwhile, Alex wakes up half-buried out in the woods. Emma walks through the woods to find her way home, and Cecilia packs up, steals the car, and heads to her own home. Cecilia stops and picks up Fran, who was basically abandoned by everyone else out in the woods. The two argue, and Cecilia gets upset and speeds up; Cecilia slams on the brakes, which sends Fran through the windshield.

Alex finds Fran’s phone and calls the police. She can’t talk right, probably due to brain damage, so the policeman who answers doesn’t quite know what’s going on. Cecilia goes back to the house to find Emma, who hasn’t returned yet. She then beats herself with her phone and takes a video of her bloody nose and asks for help from her followers before passing out.

Emma comes in, finds Cecilia passed out on the floor, and tries to help. She finds Tracy’s body stuffed under the bed. Cecilia says it was self-defense against Alex. Emma sees the necklace and doesn’t believe it, s0 Cecilia ties her to a chair and cuts her hair. Emma gets loose, and the two fight; “Please don’t hate me,” she cries when explaining how she just killed Emma’s fiancée. “I think we can get through this.” Emma disagrees and the two best friends fight some more.

Alex arrives, not being able to see straight, and beats Emma to death, thinking it’s Cecilia, as Cecilia films it. The police arrive and shoot Alex before she can get Cecilia.

The policeman from before traced the call and came to the rescue. He sees the bloody and wounded Cecilia and helps her out. She’s gonna be just fine now- she’s even written a book about her ordeal with the murdering psychopath Alex out in the woods. Happy ending!

Commentary

Those “affirmations” aren’t all that helpful, are they? The whole idea of a self-help guru being a murderous lunatic is just perfect.

Jamie’s death was just hilarious, as are the little graphic things when Cecilia gets likes and subscribes. Fran and the kangaroo? Alex and Emma’s resolution? Didn’t see that coming.

This whole thing was Emma’s fault. She knew Cecilia and Alex’s history, and they’d both be there with no way home.

The gore shots are outstanding and hilarious; the deaths are all well-deserved, and things develop pretty quickly. It’s a little slow getting started, but it’s never quite clear who you’re supposed to be rooting for, which makes it fun.