Iconic

With viewers long ago losing touch with any concept of the stakes, though, Iconic can’t wring even a mild gasp from the audience.

ICONIC is a new psychological thriller that feels like a real trip. A total mindf**k in ways I never expected. A small cast and a story that will make sense in the end. It is brutal, though.

Makeup guru Rose (Emma Jade), faces hate mail from a rival artist following controversy after a beauty product she’s endorsing causes customers to develop wounds on their faces. After falling into a toxic love spiral with Lily (Alyssa Anthony), Rose slides down a dangerous rabbit hole of drugs, paranoia and jealousy until she hits an unimaginable rock bottom. This independent feature from writer/director Matthew Freiheit is a visual feast with lashings of neon, a great colour palette and striking imagery. The tone mirrors the story well, playing into the online false identities many of us see daily and our apparent obsession with striving for perfection and acceptance. The movie has clear messaging behind its narrative, but the story is hard to decipher at times with various vignettes woven through the film making it a little hard to track where the story is heading. I feel this had a real opportunity to make a statement about the issues and messaging behind the story, but this falls slightly off the mark. The film progressively becomes more psychologically damaging with some violent scenes as we’re set up for what should be a great climax. But instead of opting for a real showstopper, the film limps off with a series of social media screenshots and texts. The third act really misses the aesthetic flair a film of this nature could achieve, and I wonder if this could have bee…

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