At an exuberant hairstyling competition, the contestants work their magic, exchange vicious gossip, and… commit murder? Thomas Hardiman’s feature debut, Medusa Deluxe, is a marvel–a one-take triumph that is at once a murder mystery and a dazzling examination of the often cutthroat world of professional hairdressing.
When Mosca, one of the top competitive stylists, is found murdered and scalped, it sets into motion a warped narrative of gossip and intrigue, as hair-stylists wonder who the killer is and, perhaps even more pressing, whether the competition is rigged. Thomas Hardiman’s film, unfolding in one take, is a lush, twisty, and fascinating look at the world of competitive hairstyling.
Director Biography
Thomas Hardiman is a London-based filmmaker who studied at the Chelsea College of Arts and Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. He is the director of the short films “Duck in the Dojo” (2015), “Radical Hardcore” (2015), and “Pitch Black Panacea” (2020), among others. Medusa Deluxe (2022) is his debut feature.