The Scary of Sixty-First

It seems that crazy bouts of rough and ready masturbation in front of churches (while sucking its doorknob) and conspiracy theories about the elite DO mix!  Wait.  Huh?  Exactly.

Welcome to the WILD imagination of Dasha Nekrasova, a Belarusian-American writer, actress, director and co-host of the popular cultural commentary podcast, "Red Scare”.  Here - behind the camera for The Scary of Sixty-First as a first time director - she invites viewers into a sexually-charged world full of rabbit hole conspiracy theories involving the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and one unbelievable possession from one of his many underage victims and their collision - within the walls of a posh duplex.  The result is sometimes nonsensical and utterly disturbing. 

"this slice of psycho-sexual pie is firmly for those starry-eyed viewers still looking for the second coming of Stanley Kubrick"


If there is a metaphor being abused here, then I am not sure of its intent. This movie is for the voyeur in you, I guess.

This is what happens when Writer/Director Nekrasova, playing a mysterious visitor, crashes the roommate party between college pals Noelle (co-writer Madeline Quinnco) and Addie (Betsey Brown), who have just rented a duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  Truthfully, the girls might already be headed for Splitsville as there seems to be some unneeded tension bouncing between them involving money, but the arrival of Kekrasova in their lives definitely doesn’t help.

Neither does the news about what happened in their new duplex that she shares with them.  

The find of the apartment is the deal of a lifetime, except when the girls - via Nekrasova’s character - learn that the swanky place once belonged to Epstein.  He had wild orgies there and, if the blood on the mattress is to be believed, she’s on the right the path to the truth behind the Epstein murder.The Scary of Sixty-First

With this news, Noelle becomes obsessed with the visitor—to the point of infatuation. As the pair plunge deeper into the conspiracies of the Epstein case, Addie falls into her own bizarre state: a pseudo-possession complete with inexplicable fits of age-regressed sexual mania. As they peel back on these strange occurrences, the truth reveals itself to be more twisted than they could have ever imagined.

The Scary of Sixty-First is a horror thriller that is definitely not for everyone.  While there are moments of comedy, this slice of psycho-sexual pie is firmly for those starry-eyed viewers still looking for the second coming of Stanley Kubrick, by way of an independent political drama involving the craziest of conspiracy theories.  

While competently made and full of nice aesthetic touches (reminiscent of a soft core flick from the 1980s), there are way too many leaps in logic to build anything truly terrifying as this tale of possession collides with the unearthed conspiracy theories that, when mixed with drugs, leads to moments of auto-erotic asphyxiation and passive-aggressive mania from all the key players.  Just where we are are headed is anybody's guess as these girls go totally wild for the moment.

Just what is going on in Nekrasova’s first feature is up for better critics than me, but when you factor in the exploitative nature of the shoot, it becomes clear that The Scary of Sixty-First is, in fact, yearning to be like an early Roman Polanski flick, but clearly its EYES are WIDE and solidly SHUT when it comes to any talk of suspense.

Your eyes might be shut, too, should you choose to watch The Scary of Sixty-First, which is streaming on digital platforms and VOD on the 24th via Utopia.

2/5 stars

Film Details

The Scary of Sixty-First

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
81 mins
Director
: Dasha Nekrasova
Writer:
Dasha Nekrasova; Madeline Quinn
Cast:
Madeline Quinn; Betsey Brown; Stephen Gurewitz
Genre
: Comedy | Horror
Tagline:

Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor:
Utopia
Official Site:
Release Date:
December 3, 2021 (Limited)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: While out apartment hunting, college pals Noelle and Addie stumble upon the deal of a lifetime: a posh duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side. But soon after moving in, a more sinister picture of the apartment emerges when a mysterious woman arrives and claims the property used to belong to the infamous and recently-deceased Jeffrey Epstein. With this news, Noelle becomes obsessed with the visitor—to the point of infatuation. As the pair plunge deeper into the conspiracies of the Epstein case, Addie falls into her own bizarre state: a pseudo-possession complete with inexplicable fits of age-regressed sexual mania. As they peel back on these strange occurrences, the truth reveals itself to be more twisted than they could have ever imagined.

Art

The Scary of Sixty-First