Zebra Girl review – cartoon murder splices iffily with other serious issues | Film
This low-budget indie set at the hours of darkness coronary heart of the agricultural English suburbs begins with a girl plunging an eight-inch kitchen knife into her husband’s head. The tone that director Stephanie Zari goes for appears to be that mix of violence and black humour that Fargo and Killing Eve make look really easy. However Zebra Woman’s quirky comedy will not be fairly distinctive sufficient, and the script lurches iffily into severe points of kid abuse and psychological sickness within the second half.
Sarah Roy performs the assassin, Catherine, who grabs a knife from the cutlery drawer after catching husband Dan (Tom Cullen) watching disagreeable porn at 3am within the examine of their nation pile. A shrieky horror film rating blares as she does the deed and afterwards she wraps a fluffy pink towel round his head. The subsequent morning, she calls in childhood buddy Anita (Jade Anouka), who’s shocked – however not precisely stunned – to stroll in on a homicide scene. It seems that Catherine’s plummily posh personal college accent and Tory stylish vogue style (pink cashmere knits and pearl earrings) are an affectation. What’s additionally clear is that she’s a psychopath with out a hint of conscience. “Assist me bag this bastard up,” she snaps at Anita. Even with the deadpan one-liners she’s not an fascinating or layered character.
In flashback we see Catherine and college lecturer Dan meet and fall in love. On their first date she is manic and awkward, telling him about her darkish previous. He’s shocked, however not delay. “You have been a nationwide story,” he marvels. That previous emerges in flashback, too, in scenes displaying Catherine as slightly lady (performed Daisy Mayer), then as precocious teenager (Isabelle Connolly) being questioned at a police station. For me, the cartoonish violence and flippancy of the grownup bit belongs to a special movie from a number of the upsetting episodes elsewhere.
