Imagine a world where you can’t smell anything… Now imagine a world where your hearing, taste and eyesight have also gone too. Throw in an epidemic and what do you have? Severe Olfactory Syndrome (SOS). Or, in this case, the focus of the 2011 movie Perfect Sense.
Perfect Sense is a sci-fi love story about a desperate couple in the throes of a deadly virus – SOS. A virus which spreads at will and infects with speed. Devastating lives, whilst at the same time opening the door to new ways of living.
PS centres chiefly on two main characters: Michael (Ewan McGregor) and Susan (Eva Green). He’s a commitment phobic chef, she’s a depressed scientist (epidemiologist) and together they must fight for survival.
SOS robs its victims of four main senses: hearing, sight, taste and smell. Each loss of which is preceded by a moment of intense feeling, such as a fit of crying or a bout of joy. In one scene, ravenous victims gorge greedily before losing their sense of taste. Whilst, in another scene, extreme anger gives way to loss of hearing.
Whilst apocalyptic in theme, Perfect Sense is far from your typical apocalypse movie. What we’re given, instead, is a love story with a doomsday backdrop. A serious drama interspersed with elements of science fiction. A human tale of hope, suffering and healing in a changing world.
As frag flicks go, PS isn’t exactly an obvious choice, but it’s certainly a topical one. What with COVID-19 and the impact it’s supposedly having on our olfactory system. Watch it with an open mind. Or an open nose, should I say!
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