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In Fabric
A beautiful blood-red dress unleashes a curse on its wearers in Peter Strickland's erotic and twisted horror.
Director: Peter Strickland
Overview
Bank clerk Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) has decided it’s time to start dating again. It’s been a while and it will get her out of the house, where her son is busy with his sadomasochistic girlfriend (Gwendoline Christie). Calling a lonely-hearts ad in a newspaper, she soon agrees on a rendezvous with the promising-sounding Adonis. Time to get herself something nice to wear. A trip to Dentley & Soper’s Trusted Department Store soon becomes a shopping experience like no other. There’s something not quite right about the staff here, from the disconcerting sales talk to their unsavoury night-time trysts. And as for those dresses…
In Fabric is as wildly, perversely imaginative and visually thrilling as we have come to expect from director Peter Strickland. He follows The Duke of Burgundy by venturing even further to the outer reaches of the erotic macabre, finding pleasures in everything from shop mannequins to the sound of someone listing washing-machine parts. A potent mix of design and spooky intrigue, the film is bolstered with lashings of oddball humour – Steve Oram and Julian Barratt’s double act is a particular treat – and a hot synth score from Cavern of Anti-Matter. Essential viewing for fashion addicts and those who dig their ghost stories kinky.
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