Society (1989) - Brian Yuzna

A subversive social commentary masquerading as body horror, Brian Yuzna's Society is a oddly stigmatizing piece of filmmaking, a film which drips with a palpable sense of paranoia from nearly its opening frame, slowly revealing the grotesque and shocking horror that lies beneath the surface in a finale that is sure to be memorable to the viewer.  Taking place in Beverly Hills, California, Brian Yuzna's Society is centered around Bill Whitney, a teenager and son to a wealthy family, who feels completely like a misfit around his parents and sister Jenny.  An outcast of sorts, Bill doesn't feel like he belongs with his family, who routinely mixes it up with various 'high brow' members of society, upper class socialites who don't appeal much to Bill's more 'down-to-earth' sensibilities.  Ben's feelings of alienation and confusion are only escalated when his sister's ex-boyfriend, Blanchard, shows Bill  what appears to be disturbing tapes of sexual deviancy, linking both Bill's sister and his father to some type of incestual relationship stemming from a larger sex cult.  When Blanchard mysteriously dies in a car accident, Ben begins to investigate these strange occurrences, soon discovering the truth behind his family and their gruesome sexual cult of the social elite.  Brian Yuzna's Society is a brooding piece of paranoia, a film which dedicates much of its running time to creating a tangible sense of impending doom, using typical tropes of a teenagers' feelings of inadequacy to deliver a sharp, subversive socio-political commentary on class struggle and the oppressive nature of socially conservative culture when it comes to sexuality.  Much of Society is a study in paranoia and mood-building, with the whole film carrying an odd, off-putting energy that haunts our young protagonist, though it is never entirely clear if the strange happenings are merely introspective manifestations related to coming-of-age or if what this character is discovering is truly based in reality.  Being a teenage boy, Bill's budding sexuality is used as a way of deflecting the strange happenings around him, with the film using the sex-crazed thoughts of a teenage boy to add a bit of mystery and uncertainty to this strange, sex cult which Bill himself seems to be uncovering.  When the finale does come, viewers are in for one of the more unique spins on body horror, with Society delivering some grotesque vfx one isn't soon to forget, as Brian Yuzna's film quite literally captures the haves leeching off the have-nots, in a pseudo-sexual display that is sure to trigger a visceral reaction of sorts in the viewer.  Tonally singular, Brian Yuzna's Society is a film which balances its comedy, thriller and horror elements extremely well, delivering a one-of-a-kind social-political commentary about class struggle and sexual repression that mixes tropes of the political/conspiracy theory thriller with body horror with great, subversive results!

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