Tears for Narcissus (2013)

Laura Harrison · 8 min · Letterboxd ↗

Tears is the story of a narcissist, Betty, whose misguided quest for self love results in a botched face. After numerous plastic surgeries gone awry, Betty and her husband, Leonard (himself a borderline who mirrors her obsession with plastic surgery in his fascination with the show Xtreme Makeover), get into a car accident in which a deer crashes through their windshield. Leonard dies, but Betty survives, albeit without a face. Waking from a three week coma, she learns from a nurse that she will require a face transplant. Worse, a doctor informs her, the face is that of a successful suicide. And finally the kicker: New life is stirring in Betty. Will she choose the fetus or her face? And how to cope with the walking dead situation of her transplant? Many quandaries, none of which are resolved.

Tears for Narcissus screens once in London: Close-Up Film Centre, Saturday 28 November at 20:00.