With Queen of Earth, Alex Ross Perry has stripped away much of the comedy that was infused in his previous work to craft the darkest film in his young filmography. Catherine (Elisabeth Moss) is devastated when her father, a very successful artist, passes away. She prided herself in being his assistant and his loss deals a harsh strike to her self-image. Catherine is then sent reeling when her boyfriend James (Kentucker Audley) dumps her immediately after the tragedy. She escapes to her best friend Virginia’s (Katherine Waterston) lake house in an attempt to heal but as soon as she arrives, memories of her time spent there last year with James cloud her mind. When Virginia takes up a casual romance with local guy Rich (Patrick Fugit), Catherine feels abandoned, paranoia sets in and she begins a rapid descent into hysteria.

In a film clearly designed to be dominated by women, Elisabeth Moss reigns supreme. Her powerhouse performance is filled with such raw intensity that it becomes a twisted joy to watch her descend into darkness. Perry is able to tap into the psychological trauma Catherine is experiencing by seamlessly integrating her hallucinations into the story leaving the viewer to separate them from reality. The intricately structured plot provides just the right amount of ambiguity as to which events are actually happening but there is never any doubt that Catherine is unraveling at an accelerated pace. Through very effective use of flashback sequences it is revealed how much of Catherine’s life revolved around her father’s success as a famous artist. Forced to emerge from his protective shadow is crippling and Moss emotes this with stunning vulnerability.

Some of the film’s best and most transfixing scenes occur when it’s just Elisabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston together on screen. The two play off each other so well. The depth of their performances combined with Perry’s insightful script offer a relationship much more genuine and complex than most films are able to achieve. Jumping back and forth from last year’s events at the lake house to the present, the cracks in their friendship are laid bare as issues of egocentricity, validation and co-dependence lead the way to Catherine’s corrosive paranoia. A tense and spellbinding psychological study on the fragility of sanity, Queen of Earth is essential cinema highlighted by the performances of two formidable actresses.