New movie star Ashley Moore had some instructions for the audience at the SXSW world premiere of her new film.
“Leave me horny, guys! Leave me horny,” said the actor, who stars opposite Julia Fox in Millicent Hales’ sensual lesbian romance Perfect.
“It’s just fun,” said Hales, who took on his first narrative project after directing music videos for Lil Yachty, Young Thug and others. “It’s just hot, cute, sexy, sweaty, and fun.”
In fact, “Perfect” features plenty of nudity and sex, and even includes a panty-sniffing scene. The film tells the story of Kai (Moore), a castaway stranded in a desert town during a global shortage of clean water. When Kai meets the mysteriously pregnant Mallory (Fox), who one character describes as “a total fucking MILF,” Kai embarks on a slippery romance full of twists and turns.
“The amount of nuance in this movie might be three movies worth,” Fox said of the dynamic between her and Moore’s characters. Introducing Moore, who will be making her first starring role in “Perfect,” Foxx told the audience, “A star is born.”
Many of the film’s sex scenes are soundtracked by FKA Twigs’ uplifting dance songs, with “Eusexua” providing the backdrop for Kai and Mallory’s central scene at the lake. “I wanted these songs to have pivotal, emotional moments, because[‘Eusequa’]really resonated with me,” Hales said in a post-screening Q&A.
Before the film, she asked the audience at Austin’s State Theater for live feedback. “When you see something you like, say ‘woo’.” “When I see something I don’t like, I think, ‘Oh,'” she said. “If you see someone hot enough to burn your eyes on screen, please clap. We want to hear what you think. This is not a polite movie.”
After a slow-burning intro, the crowd cheers when Kai and Mallory finally kiss.
“Perfect” also stars Rio Mehiel, Michaela Whitman, Ryder McLaughlin, Kate Moennig and Creed Bratton. The film is a SXSW sales title, and Hales is sending a “cigarette smoke signal” to buyers.
