Perfect Rivalry @SXSW 2026

The whole world is still embracing Heated Rivalry and its story of two closeted homosexual rival hockey players who develop an intense taboo relationship. While Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have risen in fame for this show, the world is waiting to see what is next when it comes to LGBTQ stories.

Perfect is director Millicent Hailes feature debut film, and it could not have come at a better time. The film recently premiered at SXSW and it was quite charming and fast paced in which many filmmakers fail to do in their first go around. Along with a great ensemble cast, Perfect rolls with the punches and sets the record straight.

Perfect introduces a world where the water supply is contaminated, and everyone struggles to get clean drinking water. We are then introduced to Kai, played by Ashley Moore, who is homeless and living out of her car with absolutely no plan of action after a bad breakup. She accidentally bumps into a community in a town called Breakwater where there is a hidden utopian lake where it is safe to swim.

Suggested by Sunny the gas station attendant, played by Lío Mihiel, Kai decides to go for a dip. She then bumps into pregnant artist Mallory, played by Julia Fox, who previously bought all of Kai’s goods at the gas station. This sets up the romance that neither set against the backdrop of a safe lake where both of them dipped together.

The audience ventures more into Mallory’s life as she invites Kai into her cottage where things get much more intimate. This is where Kai freshens up and rests, giving her much more energy to put into this situationship with Mallory. She becomes more flirtatious with Kai as she is living this escapist fantasy while at the same time painting pictures of her.

As things begin to heat up between the two of them, the film starts to get spicy as the sex scenes are a page out of some of Adrian Lyne’s films. It’s sultry as both women are coming from different sides of the spectrum. Whether it’s race, age, or economic background, the film explores the magnetism of opposites. Or better yet, two rivals. Even though Mallory has more skeletons in her closet, she takes this situationship by the horns and really gets a bang for her buck.

Kai recovers from the intensity of this romance when she hangs out with Sunny’s queer misfits friends, who are all her age and know of the nuances of Mallory. But Kai is in a world where life is throwing her a bunch of curveballs of course after a breakup and she struggles to find a solution for herself. Things go south even further when her car is vandalized and torn apart and becomes stuck in the town of Breakwater. She then dives into this relationship even further with Mallory and Sunny’s misfit friends.

Lío Mihiel really keeps this film together and is the cog in the wheel that allows this film to go from first to fourth gear. Furthermore, Micaela Wittman is a breath of fresh air when the intensity between Mallory and Kai becomes too much. A much-needed presence in the film with a great performance. Both Lío and Micaela are the moons of this hot, fiery relationship between Mallory and Kai. They seamlessly are interwoven in the film to make the uncomfortable comfortable and the uneasiness easy.

FERNTV believes this film is a perfect introduction to the career of director Millicent Hailes. Where many critics were expecting too much because it was exploring a lesbian relationship, Perfect has the recipe for success. They may have been looking way too deeply into it or finding too much symbolism of a lesbian relationship amongst a backdrop of a clean lake. Perfect is a fun, fast-moving film that does not have to be analyzed to the tee because director Millicent Hailes does not set it up that way.

Perfect is as easygoing film as that of Sunny’s misfits, where it is fun here and there. Which is why this is a perfect film because it is not open for interpretation, and it is just a fun movie-going experience. FERNTV says that there should be nothing wrong with that, but maybe this is the perfect rivalry that audiences are looking for. Nothing wrong with some harmless fun.