Frights and Feelings: Perfectly Good Moment (2024)

“Perfectly Good Moment” delivers a potent victim narrative with the raw sensitivity needed to handle such a thorny subject.

We’ve survived yet another “month of love.” It’s cheesy and outdated in a way because there are many different types of love, affection, and relationships.

One often wonders what happened to the childish simplicity of showing one another gratitude. (Perhaps this is why Galentine’s Day became a phenomenon, thanks to Parks and Recreation, but I digress.) However, the candy-coated hues of this dreary month seem to turn a blind eye to the darker side of romance in favor of a sanitized, store-bought, overly idealized affair.

I am not one of those people. Maybe the pessimist within me finds the strength to rise above and quash the hopeless romantic that lives and yearns so readily in my soul, but I often ponder the narratives where love goes horrifically wrong. One of my favorite recent tales that ruminates on what toxic romance looks like is none other than the overlooked erotic thriller gem Perfectly Good Moment.

Directed by Lauren Greenhall and written by the film’s star, Amanda Jane Stern, PERFECTLY GOOD MOMENT explores possession and revenge in a thrilling and novel way.

The plot is a simple one from the outset.

A young woman named Ruby (played by the intrepid Amanda Jane Stern) is effortlessly charmed by the much older David (played by a pitch-perfect Stephen Carlile). Not only does the age gap and the age at which the character met make this connection exceedingly problematic, but David is also Ruby’s professor at the time he seduces her.

After eight years of struggle and mind games, Ruby breaks free of David only to return to him months later with some mind games of her own to play. There’s some sweet revenge to be had, and I like to think of myself as an authority on revenge films, but that could be a conceited concession.

The film is typified as an erotic thriller, but I found myself wincing through it as the antagonist, David, berates Ruby for the smallest of infractions and mistakes. As we all know, audiences bring their own experiences to the viewership, so for me, Perfectly Good Moment was nothing short of harrowing.

David leverages a position of power over Ruby that is rooted in his age and academic position.

At the time of their meeting, he was 34, and she was 19. (If you’re bad at math, he’s a whole high school sophomore [15 years] older than her.)

He is a debonair professor, and she is a student. They connect because they are both intelligent and witty. Still, instead of taking on a mentor position and guiding Ruby through a confusing stage in her life, David lusts after Ruby and pursues her as a sexual partner.

Society conditions young women to think that dating a much older man is a sign of sophistication, proof that we are, in fact, more mature than our age-appropriate counterparts. The reality of this is hardly glamorous and actually aids in these older men taking advantage of younger women in insidious ways. Since Ruby is technically legal by American standards, David is in the clear, never mind the fact that she is still extremely young in the scheme of life and would likely be only a college freshman or sophomore when they meet.

The lines of right and wrong are thoroughly blurred and complicated due to her age upon their introduction.

If Ruby was 30 and David 45, one might not even bat an eye, but the appeal for David is that Ruby is young and impressionable. He thinks she is someone he can manipulate, and due to her youth, she will be malleable. This cycle of older men preying on barely legal women is nothing new. It’s often celebrated and made a spectacle. (Looking at you, Leo DiCaprio.)

David is controlling, the sort of man who has to have everything his way. His life is portrayed as perfectly curated. His tastefully minimalist apartment is stylish, a noted feature of his meticulousness. However, this need for dominance extends past his domain to other people.

He wants to control Ruby’s every thought and action. When Ruby says or does something that goes against the meticulous role he has set for her, well, all hell breaks loose.

Of course, as Ruby ages, she starts to think and act for herself, much to his chagrin. Her sentience and agency prove to be an issue for his machismo. He openly berates her for saying the most innocuous statements or making small humanistic mistakes.

Ruby is not allowed to be a person in his presence, much less have humanity in his eyes.

She’s an object, a plaything. She’s his perfect doll that he can bend to his will instead of a living, breathing person with her own flaws and personality.

He cares little for the real Ruby and more about what he can mold her into and how he can use her. These fights and instances are punctuated by David showering Ruby with affection and sex, creating a toxic and intentionally confusing dynamic. He has successfully isolated her from family and friends, so she has to rely solely on him.

This film has much to say about the nature of the oft-misunderstood phenomenon of trauma bonding. Ruby is practically a prisoner, and David seeks to escalate his hold on her as he feels her start to slip from his careful grasp.

The film brings attention to a type of abusive behavior that isn’t explored enough in media despite being prevalent in real life: coerced conception.

The threat of coerced conception is what gives Ruby the strength to leave and spend six months planning her grand revenge.

David plies her with his plan to marry her and impregnate her. He waxes poetic about the daughter they will create. It’s a nauseating and tense scene because, again, reality is at play. Men will impregnate their partners as a way to maintain control over them, essentially trapping them in an abusive relationship and giving them little choice to leave because a child is now involved.

This is such a prevalent issue that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has a whole page on its website addressing this form of abuse, what it is, and how to deal with it as a clinical professional.

As a viewer, I winced my way through this film.

While it is not horror proper, it is horrifying to watch a grown woman in her late 20s be berated by a man 15 years her senior for spilling wine.

The environment that Greenhall and Stern effortlessly create makes the audience hold their breath and feel like they are walking on eggshells around David themselves. There were times when I actually jumped due to the innate realism of David’s domineering character and personality. Every older man who had berated me in the past, who sought to manipulate me, came to mind during my viewing, and it most certainly struck a nerve.

It’s a prime example of how film can trigger those memories and experiences in a safe environment and give the viewer subsequent catharsis.

Due to the powerhouse nature of the film’s third act, I do not want to spoil it. Instead, I want you to seek this film out because it is so deserving of your attention, especially if you’ve had to endure the hold of small-minded, putrid men who seek to control women for their own gains.

The shining star of this film is Ruby’s character and the arc that she goes through. Greenhall and Stern take the viewer through a satisfying dynamic character’s genesis as a confused preyed upon teen to a phoenix rising from the ashes of abuse and totally in control of herself, and they do it all in a tight runtime of 72 minutes.

Ruby rips her power back from David as viciously as he has dominated her over the years, and by God, it truly is satisfying to watch her slyly turn the tables on him and finally obtain the proverbial upper hand.

Ruby’s everywoman charm and wit make her easy to identify with. She’s the kind of character that feels real. We could know her or very well be her.

Perfectly Good Moment is triumphant, relatable, cathartic, and unflinching all at once. It’s a film that makes my analytical and creative heart soar in the best way because it shows just what is possible with enough creativity and gumption.

Emotionally involving and important narratives are everywhere and at all levels of film, and this indie is undeniable proof of that.

Perfectly Good Moment is streaming on Tubi. Stop reading this. Get to watching.